THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 u 
 
 
 B 
 
 i 
 
 4
 
 THE RAIDERS.
 
 By the Same Author. 
 
 THE STICKIT MINISTER 
 
 And some Common Men. 
 
 In a Utter to a friend, Robert Louis Stevenson says : — 
 
 " The whole book breathes admirably of the soil. ' The 
 Stickit Minister' and 'The Heather Lintie' are two that 
 come near to me particularly. They are drowned in Scot- 
 land. They have refreshed me like a visit home. 'Cleg 
 Kelly is a delightful fellow. I enjoyed his acquaintance 
 particularly. Likewise that of the Junior Partner. Gavin 
 Ogilvy and the Stickit Minister do not derive from one 
 another. They are complementary. When I read the first 
 page of 'The Stickit Minister' — the ploughing — I knew I 
 was not in Scotland, and I knew I was not with Gavin. 
 The Stickit Minister is out-of-doors— Barrie is within doors. 
 By different ways ye shall attain.'' 
 
 See also Press Notices at end of book.
 
 THE RAIDERS 
 
 BEING 
 
 Some Passages in 
 the Life of John 
 Faa, Lord and Earl 
 of Little Egypt: 
 
 B Y 
 
 S. R. Crockett 
 
 Qonbcftx 
 
 T FISHER UNWIN 
 
 W. POLLOCK WYLIE 
 
 PATERNOSTER SQUARE CHRISTIAN LEADER OFFICE 
 
 MDCCCXCIV
 
 
 I8W 
 
 To 
 Alexander Whyte, 
 
 my friend, 
 
 I offer this story 
 
 of the hills of my Home land — 
 
 to me also, friends 
 
 ancient, unforgotten, ^well-beloved. 
 
 £\*J*. -
 

 
 31 antes, be the grace of God, King of Scottis : 
 To our Scbereffis of Edinburghe, principall . . . and 
 to all otheris Scbereffis, Stewards, pro'veftis, aulder- 
 menne, and hailleis within our realme, greting. 
 Forsamekill as it is buimlie menit and sche<win to 
 us be our lou-vit Johnne Faa, Lord and Earle 
 of Little Egypt : / charge you to affift him in 
 punejjing all that rebellis againis him, and in the 
 execution of juftice upon bis company and folkis, 
 conforme to the laxves of Egypt. 
 
 Subfcri-uit -with our hand and under our Prive 
 Seile, at Falkland the fweteine day of Februar, 
 and of our r eigne the xxviij year. 
 
 Subscript, per Regem 
 
 3fame!3 &.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 I MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF . . I 3 
 
 II. JOHN HERON OF ISLE RATHAN ... 22 
 
 III. DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS . . . .28 
 
 IV. THE CAVE OF ADULLAM .... 36 
 
 V. AULD WIVES' CLAVERS . . . . -43 
 
 VI. THE STILL HUNTER . . . . . 6 1 
 
 VII. THE RED COCK CROWS AT CRAIGDARROCH . JO 
 
 VIII. NIGHT ON THE MOOR .... J J 
 
 IX. IN RAMSAY BAY . . . . . .82 
 
 X. SMUGGLER AND KINg's MAN 90 
 
 XI. THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN . . -97 
 
 XII. MORNING IN THE CAVE . . . . I06 
 
 XIII. THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE . . . . II4 
 
 XIV. THE HILL GYPSIES . . . . 1 25 
 
 XV. THE DRY CAVE . . . . . . 1 35 
 
 XVI. THE CAMP OF SILVER SAND. . . . 1 45 
 
 XVII. COUNCIL OF WAR . . . . . . I $0 
 
 XVIII. TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE . . I 59 
 
 XIX. ON THE TRACK OF THE RAIDERS . . . I 70 
 
 XX. THE GREAT FIGHT AT THE BRIDGEHEAD . I 76 
 
 XXI. SAMMLE TAMSON FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER . I 83 
 XXII. I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE TAMSON . 1 94
 
 io CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAP. PAGE 
 
 XXIII. THE FORYVANDERED BAIRN .... 205 
 
 XXIV. A MEETING WITH BILLY MARSHALL . . 21 3 
 
 XXV. THE DUNGEON OF BUCHAN .... 220 
 
 XXVI. THE WOLF'S SLOCK . . . . . 225 
 
 XXVII. BY THE BLESSING OF PROVIDENCE, I LIE BRAVELY 233 
 
 XXVIII. THE BLACK SEA-CHEST .... 245 
 
 XXIX. THE MURDER HOLE ..... 250 
 
 XXX. A WOOING NOT LONG A-DOING . . . 256 
 
 XXXI. MAY MISCHIEF PROVES HER METTLE . . 263 
 
 XXXII. I SALUTE THE LADY GRIZEL . . . 27 1 
 
 XXXIII. JEN GEDDES' SAMPLER BAG .... 276 
 
 XXXIV. SWEET CAKE AND CONSERVES . . . 283 
 XXXV. SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC . . . 29 1 
 
 XXXVI. THE BARRING OF THE DOOR . . . 3OO 
 
 XXXVII. THE SILVER WHISTLE BLOWS . . . 3 1 I 
 XXXVIII. THE SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK . 3I9 
 
 XXXIX. THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR . . . . 3 2 & 
 
 XL. THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER . . 333 
 
 XLI. A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE . . . 342 
 
 XLII. THE FASTNESS OF UTMOST ENOCH . . 35 I 
 
 XLIII. THE AUCHTY ON THE STAR HILL . . . 363 
 
 XLIV. THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS . . . 37 2 
 
 XLV. ALIEN AND OUTLAW . . . . • 3& 1 
 
 XLVI. THE BROWNIE ..... 3^9 
 
 XLVII. THE LAST OF THE OUTLAWS . . . 397 
 
 XLVIII. THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR ONCE MORE . 4O4
 
 FOREWORD. 
 
 I, Patrick Heron of Isle Rathan in Galloway, begin 
 the writing of my book with thanks to God, the Giver 
 of all good, for the early and bountiful harvest which He 
 has been pleased to give us here in little Scotland, in this 
 year of His Grace, 17 — . It is not the least of the 
 Lord's mercies that throughout all this realm, both 
 hill-land and valley-land, the crops of corn, Merse wheat, 
 Lowden oats, and Galloway bear, should be in the 
 stackyards under thack and rape by the second day of 
 September. 
 
 So, with a long back-end before me, the mind running 
 easy about the corn, and prices rising, I am not likely to 
 get a better season of quiet to write down the things that 
 befell us in those strange years when the hill outlaws 
 collogued with the wild freetraders of the Holland 
 traffic, and fell upon us to the destruction of the life of 
 man, the carrying away of much bestial, besides the 
 putting of many of His Majesty's lieges in fear. 
 
 Now it will appear that there are many things in 
 this long story which I shall have to tell concerning 
 myself which are far from doing me credit, but let it not 
 be forgotten that it was with ?ne the time of wild oat 
 sowing when the blood ran warm. Also these were the 
 graceless, unhallowed days after the Great Killing, when
 
 iz FOREWORD. 
 
 the saints of God had disappeared from the hills of 
 Galloway and Garrick, and when the fastnesses of the 
 utmost hills were held by a set of wild cairds — cattle 
 reivers and murderers, worse than the painted savages 
 of whom navigators to the far seas bring us word. 
 
 It was with May Mischief that all the terrible 
 blast of storm began (as indeed most storms among men 
 ever do begin with a bonny lass, like that concerning 
 Helen of Troy, which lasted ten year and of which 
 men speak to this day). The tale began with May 
 Mischief as you shall hear. I keep the old name still, 
 though the years have gone by, and though now in any 
 talks of the old days and of all our ancient ploys, there 
 are the bairns to be considered. But it is necessary that 
 ere the memory quite die out, some one of us who saw these 
 things should write them down. Some, it is true, were 
 deeper in than I, but none saw more or clearer, being so 
 to speak at both the inception and the conclusion of the 
 matter.
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF. 
 
 It was upon Rathan Head that I first heard their 
 bridle-reins jingling clear. It was ever my custom 
 to walk in the full of the moon at all times of the 
 year. Now the moons of the months are wondrously 
 different : the moon of January, serene among the 
 stars — that of February, wading among chill cloud- 
 banks of snow — of March, dun with the mist of 
 muirburn among the heather — of early April, clean 
 washen by the rains. This was now May, and the 
 moon of May is the loveliest in all the year, for with 
 its brightness comes the scent of flower-buds, and of 
 young green leaves breaking from the quick and 
 breathing earth. 
 
 So it was in the height of the moon of May, as I 
 said, that I heard their bridle-reins jingling clear and 
 saw the harness glisten on their backs. 
 
 " Keep far ben in your ain hoose at hame when the 
 Marshalls ride ! " said my father, nodding his head at 
 every third word in a way he had. 
 
 I shall never forget that night. I rowed over 
 towards the land in our little boat, which was com- 
 monly drawn up in the cove on Rathan Isle, and 
 lay a great time out on the clear, still flow of a 
 silver tide that ran inwards, drifting slowly up with 
 it. I was happy and at peace, and the world was
 
 14 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 at peace with me. I shipped the oars and lay back 
 thinking. A lad's mind runs naturally on the young 
 lasses, but as yet I had none of these to occupy me. 
 Indeed there was but one of my own standing in 
 the neighbourhood — that Mary Maxwell who was 
 called, not without cause, May Mischief, 1 a sister of 
 the wild Maxwells of Craigdarroch — and her I could 
 not abide. There was nothing in her to think about 
 particularly, and certainly I never liked her ; never- 
 theless, one's mind being contrary, my thoughts ran 
 upon her as the tide swirled southward by Rathan — 
 especially on a curious way she had of smiling when a 
 wicked speech was brewing behind her eyes. 
 
 My skiff lay just outside the loom of the land, 
 the black shadow of the Orraland shore on my left 
 hand ; but both boat and I as clear in the moonlight 
 as a fly on a sheet of white paper. 
 
 There was a brig at anchor in the bay, and it was 
 along the heuchs (cliffs) towards her that I saw the 
 horsemen ride. They were, I knew, going to run the 
 cargo into shelter. I was thinking of how fine they 
 looked, and wondering how long it would be till my 
 father let me have a horse from the stable and a lingtow 
 over my shoulder to go out to the Free Trade among 
 the Manxmen like a lad of spirit, when all at once I 
 got a sudden, horrid surprise. 
 
 I could hear the riders laughing and wagering 
 among themselves, but I was too far away to hear 
 what the game might be. Suddenly one of the fore- 
 most whipped a musket to his shoulder. I was so 
 
 1 May, the old Scots diminutive for Mary, was pronounced, not like 
 the name of the month, but Me: — the German a, a characteristic sound 
 which occurs also in " gye," " stey," &c.
 
 MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF. 15 
 
 near the shore that I saw the flash of moonlight run 
 along the barrel as he brought it to his eye. I 
 wondered what he could be aiming at — a sea bird 
 belike. 
 
 " Clip ! Splash ! " went something past my head 
 and through the bow of the boat. Then on the 
 back of the crack of the gun came a great towrow of 
 laughter from the cliff edge. 
 
 " A miss ! a palpable miss ! " cried some one behind. 
 " Haud her nose doon, ye gowk ! " 
 
 " Noo, Gil, ye are next. See you an' mak' a better 
 o't." 
 
 I was somewhat dazed with the suddenness of the 
 cowardly assault, but I seized my oars of instinct 
 and rowed shorewards. I was in the black of the 
 shadows in three strokes, and not a moment over 
 soon, for another ball came singing after me. It 
 knocked the blade of my left oar into flinders, just 
 as the water dripped silver off it in the moonlight 
 for the last time before I was submerged in the 
 shadow. Again the laughter rang loud and clear, but 
 heartless and hard. 
 
 " Guid e'en to ye, fisherman," cried the man who 
 had first spoken. " The luck's wi' ye the nicht ; it's a 
 fine nicht for flounders." 
 
 I could have broken his head, for I was black 
 angry at the senseless and causeless cruelty of the 
 shooting. My first thought was to make for home ; 
 my second to draw to shore, and find out who they 
 might be that could speed the deadly bullet with so 
 little provocation at a harmless lad in his boat on the 
 bay. So without pausing to consider of wisdom 
 and folly (which indeed I have but seldom done in
 
 16 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 this life with profit), I sculled softly to the mainland 
 with the unbroken oar. 
 
 Barefoot and bareleg I got into the shallow water, 
 taking the little cleek anchor ashore and pushing the 
 boat out that she might ride freely, for, as I said, the 
 tide was running upwards like a mill-race. 
 
 Then I struck through the underbrush till I came 
 to the wall of the deserted and overgrown kirkyard 
 of Kirk Oswald. There stands a great old tomb in 
 the corner from which, it ran in my mind, I might 
 observe the shore and the whole route of the riders, 
 if they were on their way to unload the brig in the 
 offing. 
 
 There was a broad splash of moonlight on the 
 rough grass between me and the tomb of the 
 MacLurgs. The old tombstones reeled across it 
 drunkenly, yet all was still and pale. I had almost 
 set my foot on the edge of this white patch of moon- 
 shine to strike across it, when, with a rustle like a 
 brown owl alighting swiftly and softly, some one took 
 me by the hand, wheeled me about, and ere I had 
 time to consider, carried me back again into the 
 thickest of the wood. 
 
 Yet I looked at my companion as I ran, you may 
 be sure. I saw a girl in a light dress, high-kilted 
 — May Mischief of Craigdarroch, what other ? But 
 she pointed to her lip to show that there was to 
 be no speech ; and so we ran together even as she 
 willed it to an angle of the old wall, where, stand- 
 ing close in the shade, we could see without being 
 seen. 
 
 Now this I could not understand at all, for May 
 Mischief never had a civil word for me as far back as
 
 MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF. 17 
 
 I remember, but so many jibes and jeers that I never 
 could endure the girl. Yet here we were, jinking 
 hand in hand under the trees in the moonlight, for 
 all the world like lad and lass playing at hide-and-seek. 
 Soon we heard voices, and again the bits and chains 
 rattling as the horses, suddenly checked, tossed their 
 heads. Then the spurs jingled as the riders dis- 
 mounted, stamping their feet as they came to the 
 ground. 
 
 Twenty yards below us a man set his head over the 
 wall. He whistled low and shrill. 
 
 " All clear, Malcolm ? " he cried. I remember to 
 this day the odd lilt of his voice. He was a Campbell, 
 and gave the word Malcolm a strange twist, as if he 
 had turned it over with his tongue in his mouth. 
 And, indeed, that is to this day the mark of a 
 Cantyre man. 
 
 A man stepped out of the doorway of the MaoLurg 
 tomb with a gun in his hand. May Maxwell looked 
 up at me with something triumphant in her eyes, 
 which I took to mean, "Where had you been now, if 
 it had not been for me ? " And indeed the two shots 
 at the boat in the moonlight told me where I would 
 have been, and that was on the sward with a gunshot 
 through me. 
 
 A dozen or more men came swarmino- over the 
 
 O 
 
 broken wall. They carried a long, black coffin 
 among them — the coffin, as it seemed, of an extraordi- 
 narily large man. Straight across the moon-whitened 
 grass they strode, stumbling on the flat tombs and 
 cursing one another as they went. There was no 
 solemnity as at a funeral, for the jest and laughter 
 ran light and free. 
 
 2
 
 1 8 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " We are the lads," cried one. " We can lay the 
 spirits and we can raise the dead ! " 
 
 They went into the great tomb of the MacLurgs 
 with the long, black coffin, and in a trice came out 
 jovially, abusing one another still more loudly for use- 
 less dogs of peculiar pedigrees, and dealing great claps 
 on each other's backs. It was a wonder to me to see 
 these outlaws at once so cruel and so merry. 
 
 Some of them went down by the corner of the 
 kirkyard opposite to us. May Maxwell, who had 
 kept my hand, fearing, I think, that we might have to 
 run for it again round the circle of shade, plucked me 
 sharply over to see what they were doing. 
 
 They were opening a grave, singing catches as 
 their picks grated on the stones. I shivered a little, 
 and a great fear of what we were about to see came 
 over me. I think if May Maxwell had not gripped 
 me by the hand I had fairly run for it. 
 
 The man we had first seen came out of the tomb 
 and took a look at the sky. Another stretched him- 
 self till I heard his joints crack, and said "Hech How! " 
 as though he were sleepy. Whereat the others railed 
 on him, calling him "lazy vagabond." 
 
 Then all of them turned their ears towards the 
 moors as though they listened for something of 
 importance. 
 
 " Do the Maxwells ride to-night ? " asked one. 
 
 " Wheesh," said another. " Listen ! " 
 
 This he said in so awe-stricken a tone that I also 
 was struck with fear, and listened till my flesh crept. 
 
 From the waste came the baying of a hound — long, 
 fitful, and very eerie. 
 
 There was a visible, uneasy stir among the men.
 
 MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF. 19 
 
 cc 
 
 Let us be gone," said another, making for the 
 wall ; " 'tis the Loathly Dogs. The Black Deil 
 hunts himsel' the nicht. I'm gaun hame." 
 
 " Stop ! " cried one with authority (I think the man 
 that was called Gil). " I'll put an ounce of lead 
 through your vitals gin ye dinna stand in your 
 tracks." 
 
 But the others stayed neither for threat nor lead. 
 
 " It'll be waur for ye gin the Ghaistly Hounds get a 
 grip o' your shins, Gil, my man. They draw men 
 quick to hell ! " 
 
 So at the word there seized the company a great 
 fear, and they took to their heels, every man hastening 
 to the wall. Then from the other side there was 
 a noise of mounting steeds, and a great clattering 
 of stirrup-irons. 
 
 May Mischief came nearer to me, and I heard her 
 breath come in little broken gasps, like a rabbit that 
 is taken in a net and lies beating its life out in your 
 hands. At which I felt a man for the sole time that 
 night. 
 
 But not for long, for I declare that what we saw in 
 the next moment brought us both to our knees, pray- 
 ing silently for mercy. Over the wall at the corner 
 farthest from us there came a fearsome pair. First 
 a great grey dog, that hunted with its head down and 
 bayed as it went. Behind it lumbered a still more 
 horrible beast, great as an ox, grim and shaggy also, 
 but withal clearly monstrous and not of the earth, 
 with broad, flat feet that made no noise, and a demon 
 mark in scarlet upon its side, which told that the foul 
 fiend himself that night followed the chase. May 
 Mischief clung to my arm, and I thought she had
 
 zo THE RAIDERS. 
 
 swooned away. But the beasts passed some way 
 beneath us, like spirits that flit by without noise, save 
 for the ghostly baying which made one sweat with fear. 
 
 As the sounds broke farther from us that were in the 
 graveyard the horsemen dispersed in a wild access of 
 terror. We could hear them belabouring their horses 
 and riding broadcast over the fields, crying tempes- 
 tuouslyi to each other as they went. And down the 
 wind the bay of the ghostly hunters died away. 
 
 May Maxwell and I stood so a long while ere we 
 could loose from one another. We only held hands 
 and continued to look, and that strangely. I wanted 
 to thank her in words but could not, for something 
 came into my throat and dried my mouth. I dropped 
 her hand suddenly. Yet as I searched for words, 
 dividing the mind between gratitude and coltishness, 
 not one could I find in my time of need. 
 
 •May Maxwell stood a little while silent before me, 
 her hands fallen at her side, looking down as though 
 expecting something. I could not think what. And 
 then she took the skirt of her dress in her hand, dusted 
 and smoothed it a moment, and so began to move 
 slowly away. But I stood fixed like a halbert. 
 
 Then I knew by the dancing light in her eyes that 
 something was coming that would make me like her 
 worse than ever, yet I could not help 'it. What with 
 my lonely life on Isle Rathan I was as empty of words 
 as a drum of tune. 
 
 "Guid e'en to ye," she said, dropping me a curtsy; 
 " virtue is its ain reward, I ken. It's virtuous to do a 
 sheep a good turn, but a kennin' uninterestin'. Guid 
 e'en to ye, Sheep ! " 
 
 With that she turned and left me speechless, hold-
 
 MOONLIGHT AND MAY MISCHIEF. 21 
 
 ing by the wall. Yet I have thought of many things 
 since which I might have said — clever things too. 
 
 May Mischief walked very stately and dignified 
 across the moonlight, and passed the open grave which 
 the riders had made as though she did not care a 
 button for it. At the gap in the wall she turned 
 (looking mighty pretty and sweet, I do allow,), 
 nodded her head three times, and said solemnly, 
 "Baa!" 
 
 As I rowed home in the gloaming of the morning, 
 when the full flood-tide of daylight was drowning the 
 light of the moon, I decided within myself that I 
 hated the girl worse than ever. Whatever she had 
 done for me, I could never forgive her for making a 
 mock of me. 
 
 " Sheep," quoth she, and again " Baa ! " It was 
 unbearable. Yet I remembered how she looked as she 
 said it, and the manner in which she nodded her head, 
 which, as I tell you, was vastly pretty.
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 JOHN HERON OF ISLE RATHAN. 
 
 Just why my father called me Patrick I have never 
 yet been able to make out. His own name was John, 
 which, had he thought of it in time, was a good name 
 enough for me. It may have been part of his 
 humorsomeness, for indeed he used to say, " I have 
 little to leave you, Patrick, but this auld ramshackle 
 house on the Isle Rathan and your excellent name. 
 You will be far on in life, my boy, before you begin to 
 bless me for christening you Patrick Heron, but when 
 you begin you will not cease till the day of your death." 
 
 I am now in the thirty-seventh year of my age, yet 
 have I not so begun to bless my father — at least not 
 for the reason indicated. 
 
 My father, John Heron of Isle Rathan, on the 
 Solway shore, was never a strong man all the days ot 
 him. But he married a lass from the hills who 
 brought him no tocher, but, what was better, a strong 
 dower of sense and good health. She died, soon after 
 I was born, of the plague which came to Dumfries in 
 the Black Year, and from that day my father was 
 left alone with me in the old house on the Isle ot 
 Rathan. John Heron was the laird of a barren heri- 
 tage, for Rathan is but a little isle — indeed only an
 
 JOHN HERON OF ISLE RATHAN. 23 
 
 isle when the tide is flowing. Except in the very 
 slackest of the neaps there is always twice a day 
 a long track of shells and shingle out from the tail of 
 its bank. This track is, moreover, somewhat dan- 
 gerous, for Solway tide flows swift and the sands are 
 shifting and treacherous. So we went and came for 
 the most part by boat, save when I or some of the lads 
 were venturesome, as afterwards when I got well 
 acquaint with Mary Maxwell, whom I have already 
 called May Mischief, in the days of a lad's first mid- 
 summer madness. 
 
 Here on the Isle of Rathan my father taught me 
 English and Latin, Euclid's science of lines and how 
 to reason with them for oneself. He ever loved the 
 mathematic, because he said even God Almighty works 
 by geometry. He taught me also surveying and land 
 measuring. " It is a good trade, and will be more in 
 request," he used to say, " when the lairds begin to 
 parcel out the commonties and hill pastures, as they 
 surely will. It'll be a better trade to your hand than 
 keepin' the blackfaced yowes afF the heuchs (cliffs) o' 
 Rathan." 
 
 And so it has proved ; and many is the time I have 
 talked over with my wife the strange far-seeing prophecy 
 of my father about what the lairds would do in more 
 settled times. Indeed, all through my tale, strange as 
 it is (may I be aided to tell it plainly and truly), I 
 have occasion to refer to my father's sayings. Many 
 is the time I have been the better of minding his 
 words ; many the time, also, that I have fallen with 
 an unco blafF (serious downfall) because I have neg- 
 lected to heed his warnings. But of this anon, and 
 perhaps more than enough.
 
 24 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 It was a black day for me, Patrick Heron, when my 
 father lay a-dying. I remember it was a bask day in 
 early spring. The tide was coming up with a strong 
 drive of east wind wrestling against it, and making a 
 clattering jabble all about the rocks of Rathan; 
 
 " Lift me up, Paitrick," said my father, " till I see 
 again the bonny tide as it lappers again' the auld toor. 
 It will lapper there mony and mony a day an' me no 
 here to listen. Ilka time ye hear it, laddie, ye'll mind 
 on yer faither that loved to dream to the plashing o't, 
 juist because it was Solway salt water and this his ain 
 auld toor o' the Isle Rathan." 
 
 So I lifted him up according to his word, till 
 through the narrow window set in the thickness of the 
 ancient wall, he could look away to the Mull, which 
 was clear and cold slaty blue that day — for, unless it 
 brings the dirty white fog, the east wind clears all 
 things. 
 
 As he looked a great fishing gull turned its head 
 as it soared, making circles in the air, and fell — a 
 straight white streak cutting the cold blue sky of that 
 spring day. 
 
 "Even thus has my life been, Paitrick. I have 
 been most of my time but a great gull diving for 
 herring on an east-windy day. Whiles I hae gotten 
 a bit flounder for my pains, and whiles a rive o' 
 drooned whalp, but o' the rale herrin' — desperate few, 
 man, desperate few." 
 
 " I hae tried it a' ways, Paitrick, my man, ye ken," 
 he would say, for in the long winter forenights when 
 all was snug inside and the winds were trying the 
 doors, he and I did little but talk. He lay many 
 months a-dying. But he was patient, and most
 
 JOHN HERON OF ISLE RATHAN. 25 
 
 anxious that he should give me all his stores ot 
 warning and experience before he went from me and 
 Rathan. 
 
 " No that, at the first go off, ye'll profit muckle, 
 Paitrick, my man," he would say ; " me telling ye 
 that there are briers i' the buss (bush) will no advan- 
 tage ye greatly when ye hae to gae skrauchlin' 
 through. Ye'll hae to get berried and scartit, wham- 
 melt and riven, till ye learn as I hae learned. Ay, ay, 
 ye wull that ! " 
 
 My father was a dark man, not like me who am 
 fair like my mother. He had a pointed beard that he 
 trimmed with the shears, which in a time of shaven 
 men made him kenspeckle (conspicuous). He was 
 very particular about his person, and used to set to the 
 washing of his linen every second week, working like 
 an old campaigner himself, and me helping — a job 
 I had small stomach for. But at least he learned me 
 to be clean by nature and habit. 
 
 "We canna compass godliness," he would say often, 
 "try as we may, Paitrick. But cleanliness is a kindly, 
 common-like virtue, and it's so far on the road, at any 
 rate." That was one of his sayings. 
 
 My father was not what you would call a deeply 
 religious man ; at least, if he were, he said little about 
 it, though he read daily in the Scriptures, and also 
 expected me to read a chosen part, questioning me 
 sharply on the meaning. But he did not company 
 with the lairds of the countryside, nor with the 
 tenants either for the matter of that. He took no 
 part in the services which were held by the Society 
 Men who collected in the neighbourhood, and who 
 met statedly for their diets of worship at Springholm
 
 z6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 and Crocketford. Yet his sympathies were plainly 
 with these men and with Mr. Macmillan of Bal- 
 maghie who subscribed to them — not at all with the 
 settled ministers of the parishes. On Sabbaths he 
 always encouraged me to take the pony over in the 
 great wide-bottomed boat to the shore, and ride on 
 Donald to the Kirk of Dullarg or the Societies 
 meeting. 
 
 "Ye see, Paitrick, for mysel' I hae tried a' ways o't. 
 I hae been oot wi' the King's riders in the auld bad 
 days. Silver Sand kens where. I hae been in the 
 haggs o' the peat-mosses wi' the sants. I hae lain 
 snug an' cosy in Peden's cave wi' the auld man him- 
 sel' at my back. So ye see I hae tried a' ways o't. 
 My advice to you, Paitrick, is no to be identified wi' 
 ony extremes, to read yer Bible strictly, an' gin ye get 
 a guid minister to sit under, to listen eidently to the 
 word preached. It's mair than your faither ever got 
 for ony length o' time." 
 
 By bit and bit he grew weaker, as the days grew 
 longer. 
 
 " Noo, Paitrick," he said, over in the still time or 
 one morning, at the hour of slack tide, when a watcher 
 sitting up with the sick gets chill and cauldrife and 
 when the night lies like a solid weight on the earth 
 and sea, though heavier on the sea. At this time my 
 father called to me. 
 
 " I'm gaun, Paitrick," he said, just as though he 
 were going over to the Dullarg in the boat j " it's time 
 I was awa'. I could wish for your sake that I had 
 mair to leave ye. Had I been a better boy at your 
 time o' life, ye wad hae had mair amang your hands ; 
 but then maybe it's you that wad hae been the ill boy.
 
 JOHN HERON OF ISLE RATHAN. 27 
 
 It's better that it was me. But there'll be a pickle 
 siller in Matthew Erskine's hands for a' that. But gin 
 I can leave ye the content to be doing wi' little, an' 
 the saving salt o' honour to be kitchen to your piece, 
 that's better than the lairdship o' a barony." 
 He was silent for a while, and then he said — 
 " Ye are no feared, Paitrick ? " 
 " Feared, father," I said, " what for would I be 
 feared of you ? " 
 
 " Aweel, no," he answered, very calm, " I am no a 
 man to mak' a to-do aboot deein'. I bid ye guid- 
 nicht, my son Paitrick." And so passed, as one might 
 fall on sleep. 
 
 He was a quiet man, a surprisingly humorsome 
 man, and I believe a true Christian man, though all 
 his deathbed testimony was no more than I have told.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS. 
 
 If there be anything bonnier or sweeter in this 
 world than a May morning on the Isle of Rathan 
 by the Solway shore, I have yet to see it — except it 
 be the blush that comes over a young maid's face 
 when one that is not her lad, but who yet may be, 
 comes chapping at the door. 
 
 Some months after my father's death I mind me of 
 just such a morning. There had drawn to me in 
 the old house of Rathan certain other lads of my age, 
 of good burgher families, that did not find themselves 
 altogether comfortable at home. The house and 
 lands with all the sheep upon them and some six 
 thousand pounds sterling of money in the public funds 
 were left to me to deal with as I liked, though I was 
 not yet of age. Matthew Erskine, the douce Dumfries 
 lawyer, who was in my father's confidence, put no 
 barriers on my doing as I pleased ; and thus carried 
 out my father's intentions, which were that I should 
 neither be hampered in well-doing nor in ill-doing, 
 but do even as it seemed good to me. For this was 
 ever his way and custom. 
 
 " When I was a lad," he used to say, " I was sore 
 
 28
 
 DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS. 29 
 
 hampered in coming and going, and most of the evils 
 of my life have come upon me because I was not 
 early left to choose right and wrong, nosing them for 
 myself like a Scent-Dog (pointer) after birds. So I 
 will even leave you, Paitrick, as says the Carritches, to 
 1 the freedom of your own will.' " 
 
 The lads who had come to bide with me on Isle 
 Rathan, at least for the summer season, were Andrew 
 Allison, that was a burgher's son at Carlinwark 
 (where there are but few decent people abiding, which 
 made his father the more remarkable) and his brother 
 John. Also there was a cousin of the Allisons that 
 came from the ancient town of Kilconquhar, high up 
 on the Nith Water. There was also, to our joy, one 
 Jerry MacWhirter, a roguish fellow that came to me 
 to help me with my land-surveying, but was keener to 
 draw with colours on paper the hues of the landskip 
 and the sea. But he was dearest to us because 
 of his continual merry heart, which did us good like 
 a medicine. 
 
 So the five of us lads abode in that house, and of 
 them I was much the biggest and oldest. Also the 
 house was mine and it was my duty to rule, else had 
 we been an unruly crew. But in truth it was also 
 my pleasure to rule, and that with the iron hand. 
 With us at times there was one Silver Sand, who 
 deserves a chapter to himself, and in time shall 
 receive it. 
 
 Now I must tell of the kind of house we had on 
 the Isle Rathan. It stood in a snug angle of the bay 
 that curved inward towards the land and looked 
 across some mossy, boguish ground to a range or 
 rugged, heathery mountains, on which there were
 
 30 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 very many grey boulders, about which the heath 
 and bracken grew deep. 
 
 The ancient house of the Herons of Rathan was not 
 large, but it was very high, with only two little doors 
 to back and front — the front one set into the wall and 
 bolted with great bars into the solid rock beneath and 
 above, and into the thickness of the wall at either 
 side. The back door opened not directly, but entered 
 into a passage which led first to a covered well in a 
 kind of cave, where a good spring of water for ever 
 bubbled up with little sand grains dancing in it, and 
 then by a branch passage to an opening among the 
 heather of the isle, which you might search for a 
 summer's day. But unless you knew it of others' 
 knowledge, you would never find it of your own. The 
 windows were very far up the sides, and there were 
 very few of them, as being made for defence in 
 perilous times. Upon the roof there was a flagstaff 
 and so strong a covering of lead and stone flags that 
 it seemed as though another tower might have been 
 founded upon it. The Tower of Rathan stood alone, 
 with its offices, stables, byres, or other appurtenances 
 back under the cliff, the sea on one side of it, and on 
 the other the heathery and rocky isle, with its sheep 
 pastures on the height. Beneath the sea-holly and 
 dry salt plants bloomed blue and pink down near the 
 blatter of the sea. 
 
 Fresh air and sound appetites were more common 
 with us lads on the isle than the wherewithal to 
 appease our belly cravings. It was not our pleasure 
 to be served by any woman. Indeed we could not 
 abide the thought of it. It was not seemly that any 
 young one should be with us, nor did we wish to put
 
 DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS 31 
 
 our wild doings under the observation of any much 
 older than ourselves. So it came that we had to 
 fend for ourselves, and as it drew near to term day, 
 when I got my little pickle money from Matthew 
 Erskine, the Dumfries lawyer (riding there on Donald, 
 my sheltie), the living was very scanty on the isle. 
 For when I had money, it was ever freely spent. But 
 at the worst of times we had a stake salmon net which 
 we fished every morning when the fish were clean, and 
 there were flounders all the year round. Thus we 
 lived, and, take it all in all, none so evilly, considering 
 that the country was a poor one and we had no 
 friends that bore any goodwill to help us — except 
 May Mischief at Craigdarroch, who, for all her jeers, 
 set a great tankard of milk aside for us every morning 
 and night. 
 
 So on this morn in May I rose long before the 
 light, and went out into the cool, damp air of the 
 night. The tide was going back quickly, and it was 
 this which had raised me at such untimeous hours. It 
 has always struck me that when the creation was, and 
 that justly, pronounced very good, sufficient attention 
 was not paid to the matter of the tides. But in a 
 great job like the making of the earth, small points 
 are apt to be mislippened (overlooked). For instance, 
 it would have been a great advantage if the tides at 
 Rathan had been regular in the morning, leaving the 
 nets clear at something like seven o'clock in summer 
 and nine in winter. But I was not consulted at the 
 time, and so the matter rests as at present — a trifle 
 inconveniently for all parties. 
 
 Now I am a man of my devotions, and render 
 thanks to a kind Providence every morning for the
 
 32 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 preservation of the night. But I am well aware that 
 the quality of my thankfulness is not what it should 
 be at half-past two of a bleak and chill morning when 
 the nets must be looked. So I say again that both 
 parties suffer by the present arrangement. 
 
 But this morning of which I speak there was not a 
 great deal to complain of, save that I left the others 
 snoring in their hammocks and box-beds round the 
 chambers of dark oak where they were lodged. The 
 thought of this annoyed me as I went. 
 
 It was still dark when I went out with only my 
 boots over my bare feet, and the chill wind whipping 
 about my shanks. What of the sea one could observe 
 was of the colour of the inside of an oyster-shell, pearl 
 grey and changeful. The land loomed mistily dark, 
 and there was a fitful light going about the farm- 
 town of Craigdarroch, where the Maxwells dwelt, 
 which made me wonder if it could be that hellicat 
 (rompish) lassie, who had called me a sheep, wandering 
 abroad so early. For in spite of her smile she was a 
 lass that none of us lads of the Rathan could abide. 
 Still, I own that it was friendly-like to see at that 
 dead hour of the morning some one else astir even 
 across half a mile of salt water. 
 
 From Rathan Head I looked out seaward and saw 
 one of the fast brigs of the Freetraders from the Isle 
 of Man, or perhaps from Holland, manoeuvring out 
 with the tide. Little thinking how much she was to 
 cost us, against the swiftly brightening sky I watched 
 her draw away from the land. None of us, barring 
 the Preventive officers, had any ill-will at the traffic 
 itself, though my father had taught me never to use 
 any of the stuff, desiring that I should be hardy
 
 DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS. 33 
 
 and thole (endure) wind and weather without it, as 
 very well may be done. Still, when it was decently 
 gone about, he did not see what right the Preven- 
 tives had to keep other folk from doing in the matter 
 as their fathers had done before them. King George, 
 decent man, that was but lately come over the water 
 from Germany, surely could not be much harmed by 
 a poor man's bit still in the lee of the peat-stack. 
 
 But indeed there were good and bad, decent and 
 indecent, at the traffic, as we were soon to learn. 
 
 It was cold and unkindly on the flats, and there was 
 nothing except lythe and saithe in the nets — save some 
 small red trout, which I cast over on the other side, 
 that they might grow large and run up the rivers in 
 August. So little was there that I must, with exceed- 
 ingly cold feet and not in the best of tempers, proceed 
 to the flats and tramp flounders for our breakfast. 
 Right sorely did I grieve now that I had not awaked 
 two of the others, for Andrew Allison's feet were 
 manifestly intended by nature for tramping flounders, 
 being broad and flat as the palm of my hand. More- 
 over, John his brother was quick and biddable at the 
 job — though I think chiefly because he desired much 
 to get back to his play about the caves and on the 
 sand with his ancient crony, Bob Nicoll. 
 
 But I was all my lone on the flats, and it was suffi- 
 ciently dreary work. Nevertheless, I soon had my 
 baskets full of the flapping, slippery fish, though it 
 was none too nice a job to feel them slide between 
 your toes and wriggle their tails under your instep. 
 That was what gave Andrew Allison so great an 
 advantage at the business, for he had no instep — at 
 least not to speak of. 
 
 3
 
 34 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 When I got to the shore with my backload of 
 breakfast I knew not whether I had any feet at all, 
 except when I looked and saw my legs causing them 
 to move and in some fashion to carry me. So I came 
 to the house, which now stood up bright in the sun- 
 shine of the morning. 
 
 Going; into the still curtained chamber out of the 
 flooding morning sun was the strangest thing. It 
 vexed me wonderfully to hear the others still snoring 
 in their naked beds, and I so cold and weary with my 
 morning's work. Moreover, the air had the closeness 
 that comes with thick walls and many breathings. 
 
 Throwing down my fish and slipping off my dew- 
 damp clothes to be dried before the fire, I threw 
 myself into the bed which Andrew Allison and I 
 occupied together. He lay next the wall. Without 
 a moment's delay I placed my ice-chill feet where it 
 would do them most good. This caused my com- 
 panion to awake with so great a yell that the others 
 tumbled instantly out of bed, thinking that the Free- 
 traders were upon us at the least. As for Andrew, he 
 lay still and acted warming-pan, being fortunately 
 between me and the wall. 
 
 To the others I issued my orders as I grew warmer. 
 
 " You lazy slug-a-beds " — it was my way thus to 
 speak, ordering the youngsters about like a skipper — 
 " get about your work ! You, John Allison, get the 
 boat and go over to Craigdarroch for the milk, and be 
 back by breakfast-time ; and gin ye so muckle as lift 
 the lid of the can, I'll thrash ye till ye canna stan', 
 forbye, ye'll get no breakfast." 
 
 John got his cap, grumbling and shaking his head. 
 But he went.
 
 DAWN ON RATHAN SANDS. 35 
 
 " You, Rab, clean the fish, and you, Jerry Mac- 
 Whirter, get a fire started, and hae the breakfast on 
 the table in an hour. Dry my clothes before the fire." 
 
 " It's Andra's day ! " said Jerry. 
 
 " Maybe it is," said I, " but for the present Andrew 
 has other business on hand. He was tired yestreen, 
 and he's the better o' a rest this morning. Get the 
 breakfast and be nimble. It'll be better for you." 
 
 " But, Rab says " began Jerry, who was 
 
 reluctantly putting on his clothes. 
 
 " Not another word out of the mouth o' ye ! " I 
 cried, imperatively. 
 
 It is wonderful what firmness does in a household. 
 In this way I had a good sleep before breakfast. 
 
 When I awoke Andrew was on foot. He had 
 stolen out of bed and taken a sea plunge from the 
 southernmost rocks, drying himself on the sand by 
 running naked in the brisk airs of the morning which 
 drew off the sea. 
 
 There is no finer breakfast than flounders fried in 
 oatmeal with a little salt butter as soon as ever they 
 come out of the water, with their tails jerking Flip^ 
 flap) in the frizzle of the pan. 
 
 " Gracious," said Jerry, " but it's guid. I'm gled 
 I got up o' my ain free will." 
 
 Andrew and I being captain and lieutenant of the 
 gang, had forks ; the rest had none, by which lack for 
 eating flounders they were the better off. It is most 
 amazing the number of bones a flounder can carry, 
 and that without trouble. Also it is a mercy that 
 none of us choked on any of them, in so unseemly 
 a haste did we eat.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. 
 
 Rathan Island lay in the roughest tumble of the 
 seas. Its southern point took the full sweep of the 
 Solway tides as they rushed and surged upwards to 
 cover the great deadly sands of Barnhourie. From 
 Sea Point, as we named it, the island stretched north- 
 ward in many rocky steeps and cliffs riddled with 
 caves. For just at this point the softer sandstone you 
 meet with on the Cumberland shore set its nose out 
 of the brine. So the island was more easily worn 
 into sea caves and strange arches, towers and hay- 
 stacks, all of stone, sitting by themselves out in the 
 tideway for all the world like bairns' playthings. 
 
 In these caves, which had many doors and entries, 
 I had played with the tide ever since I was a boy. I 
 knew them all as well as I knew our own back-yard 
 under the cliff. And the knowledge was before long 
 to stand me in better stead than the Latin grammar I 
 had learned from my father. 
 
 In fine weather it was a pleasant thing to go up to 
 the highest point of the island, which, though little 
 of a mountain, was called Ben Rathan, and see the 
 country all about one. Thence was to be seen the 
 
 36 

 
 THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. 37 
 
 reek of many farm-towns and villages, besides cot- 
 houses without number, all blowing the same way 
 when the wind was soft and equal. The morning 
 was the best time to go there. Upon Rathan, close 
 under the sky, the bees hummed about among the 
 short, crisp heather, which was springy just like our 
 little sheltie's mane after my father had done docking 
 it. There was a great silence up there — only a 
 soughing from the south, where the tides of the 
 Solway, going either up or down, kept for ever 
 chafing against the rocky end of our little Isle of 
 Rathan. 
 
 Then nearest to us, on the eastern shore of Barn- 
 hourie Bay, there was fair to be seen the farmhouse of 
 Craigdarroch, with the Boreland and the Ingleston 
 above it, which is always the way in Galloway. 
 Wherever there is a Boreland you may be sure that 
 there is an Ingleston not far from it. The way of 
 that is, as my father used to say, because the English 
 came to settle in their "tons," and brought their 
 " boors," or serfs, with them. So that near the English 
 towns are always to be found the boor-lands. Which 
 is as it may be; but the fact is at any rate sufficiently 
 curious. And from Ben Rathan also, looking to the 
 westward, just over the cliffs of our isle, you saw 
 White Horse Bay, much frequented of late years for 
 convenience of debarkation by the Freetraders of 
 Captain Yawkins' band, with whom, as my father used 
 to say quaintly, no honest smuggler hath company. 
 
 For there were, as every one knows, in this land of 
 Galloway two kinds of the lads who bring over the 
 dutiless gear from Holland and the Isle of Man. 
 There be the decent lads who run it for something
 
 38 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 honest to do in the winter and for the spice of danger, 
 and without a thought of hurt to King George, 
 worthy gentleman ; and there are also the " Associ- 
 ated Illdoers," as my father would often call them in 
 his queer, daffing way — the Holland rogues who got 
 this isle its bye-name of Rogues' Island by running 
 their cargoes into our little land-locked cove which 
 looks towards White Horse Bay. These last were 
 fellows who would stick at nothing, and quite as often 
 as not they would trepan a lass from the Cumberland 
 shore, or slit the throat of a Dumfries burgher to see 
 the colour of his blood. But the Black Smugglers 
 never could have come to such a pitch of daring and 
 success unless they had made to themselves friends 
 of the disaffected of these parts. The truth of the 
 matter was that in the wilds of Galloway that look 
 toward Ayrshire, up by the springs of Doon and Dee, 
 there lies a wide country of surpassing wildness, 
 whither resorted all the evil gypsies of the hill — red- 
 handed men, outlaw and alien to all this realm of well- 
 affected men. 
 
 When a vessel came in these openly marched down 
 to the shore with guns, swords, and other weapons — 
 Marshalls, Macatericks, and Millers, often under the 
 leadership of Hector Faa — and escorted to their fast- 
 nesses the smuggled stuff and the stolen goods, for 
 there was as much by wicked hands reived and robbed, 
 as of the stuff which was only honestly smuggled. 
 
 My father had fallen out with Yawkins when he 
 began the robbing of man and the seizing of maids. 
 I can remember him coming to the Rathan, a thick- 
 set, dark man, with his head very low between his 
 shoulders. He had a black beard on his breast, and
 
 THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. 39 
 
 there was a cast in his eye. He swore many strange 
 oaths. Being a Hollander, the most of his conversa- 
 tion seemed to be " dam," but between whiles he was 
 trying to persuade my father to something. 
 
 " It's clottered nonsense," said my father over and 
 over to him ; " and, more than that, it's rank black- 
 guardism ; and as for me, I shall have no trokings wi' 
 the like o' ye aboot the maitter." 
 
 From which and other things I gathered that in the 
 days of his wildness my father had had his hands pretty 
 deep in the traffic. 
 
 Away at the back yonder, across the fertile valley or 
 the Dee, we could see from Rathan Head the blue 
 shadowy hills, where, among the wild heather and the 
 solitudes where the whaups cried all summer long, the 
 hill gypsies had their fastnesses. On those blue hills, 
 to us so sweet and solemn, no king's man had been of 
 his own free will since the days of Clavers. Little 
 did I think, as I used to sit and watch them, with 
 Andrew and young Jock Allison, Rab Nicoll, and little 
 Jerry, on the smooth brindled heather of Ben Rathan, 
 that I should so often tread the way up to those fast- 
 nesses about the Dungeon of Buchan or all were 
 done. 
 
 It was after the time of dishwashing, and the most 
 part of us were out on the heuchs (cliffs), looking to 
 seaward with my father's old prospect-glass (which 
 was ever one of our choicest possessions) when little 
 Jerry, who had been drawing with pencils and colour 
 the shape of the coast and hills — a vanity he was very 
 fond of from his childhood — came up the hill in great 
 spangs, crying that there was a boat coming round the 
 point running against the tide, with two men rowing.
 
 4° THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I turned the glass on the boat as she came, and was 
 soon able to pick her up. 
 
 "It's your mither, Andrew Allison," I said, "an' 
 yours, Jerry, my lad. They'll be gettin' anxious to 
 see ye ! " 
 
 " Guid save us," said Andrew ; " I'm awa' to 
 hide ! " 
 
 " Awa' wi' ye, then," I said ; " but dinna inform 
 me where, that I may not tell more lies than are 
 just and needful." 
 
 I was well aware that there was some business for 
 me to do during the next hour, for neither Mistress 
 Allison that was a baillie's wife, nor yet Mistress 
 MacWhirter, were canny women with their tongues 
 when they got a subject to do them justice. 
 
 But my father set me on a capital plan, having 
 regard to the tongue of a scolding woman. I know 
 not how it would work if you had her always in the 
 house with you. I misdoubt that in that case my 
 father's receipt might need application and reinforce- 
 ment from a hazel rod ; but against the tongues of orra 
 folk that you have only to stand for a while at a time, 
 it is altogether infallible. My father had a great 
 respect for Scripture, and he had Scripture warrant for 
 this. 
 
 " Mind ye, Paitrick," he used to say, " that the 
 Good Book says, c A soft answer turneth away wrath.' 
 Now keep your temper, laddie. Never quarrel wi' 
 an angry person, specially a woman. Mind ye, a soft 
 answer's aye best. It's commanded — and forbye, it 
 makes them far madder than onything else ve could 
 say." 
 
 As we looked the boat sped nearer, and, peering
 
 THE CAVE OF ADULLAM. 41 
 
 through the prospect-glass again, I could see that it 
 was rowed by a pair of folk — a lassie and a man. It 
 was the Craigdarroch boat — white with a green stripe 
 about it, very genteel. So that I did not need to be a 
 prophet or other than my father's son to know that it 
 was my daft Maxwell lass, whom they call May 
 Mischief, that was oaring the wives across. 
 
 Now it made me vexed sore to think that she should 
 hear all the on-ding (turmoil) of their ill tongues. 
 Not that I cared for May Maxwell or any like her, 
 only it was galling to let a lass like that, who was for 
 ever gibing and jeering, get new provision of powder 
 and shot for her scoffs and fleers. The last time I 
 saw her, when I went over to Craigdarroch myself for 
 the milk — one day that it blew hard and I would not 
 send the younger ones — she had a new word for me. 
 She would call me no word but " Adullam." Well, 
 any name was better than "Sheep," and when I saw 
 her forming her mouth to say " Baa," I could have 
 run and left her in fair anger. But this she did but 
 seldom. 
 
 " Noo, Adullam," she cried, as soon as ever I could 
 get near the onstead for yowching dogs, " this is a bonny 
 business. I suppose ye think that ye are a great 
 captain, like King David in the cave ; and that a' that 
 are discontented and a' that are in distress wull gather 
 in till ye, an' ye'll be a captain ower them. A bonny- 
 like captain, Adullam. There's a braw big hoose up 
 in Enbra', I hear, that's fu' o' sic captains. They 
 pit strait-jackets on them there, an' tie them up wi' 
 rapes." 
 
 This I did not answer, remembering my father's 
 prescription.
 
 42 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 « 
 
 O, ye think ye're a braw lad," said the impudent 
 besom. " Ye're a' braw lads, by your ain accounts, 
 but some knotty twigs o' the bonny birk wad fit ye 
 better than so mony c captains.' I'll speak to my 
 faither aboot that ! " she said, making believe to go 
 off. 
 
 Now when she spoke in this fashion I got a great 
 deal of comfort just from saying over and over to 
 myself, " Ye impudent besom ! Ye impudent be- 
 som ! " So before I was aware, out the words came ; 
 and then in a moment I was horrified at the sound of 
 my own voice. 
 
 I had never so spoken to a young woman before ; 
 indeed seldom to the breed at all. For my father and 
 I kept ourselves very close to ourselves in Rathan Isle 
 as long as he lived. 
 
 But instead of being offended the daft lassie threw 
 back her head and laughed. She had close curls like 
 a boy, and her way of laughing was strange, and 
 smote me as though some elf were tapping down 
 at the bottom of my throat with his forefinger. 
 There was something witching about her laughter. 
 
 "Weel dune, Adullam, ye'll be nane sic a su?nph 
 (stupid) some day, when ye get the calf conceit ta'en 
 oot o' ye and your hair cut," said she. 
 
 " Let my hair alane — my hair's no meddlin' you ! " 
 I said, so coltish and stupid that I fair hated the lass 
 for humbling me that way — me that had so good an 
 opinion of myself from living much alone. 
 
 So it was small wonder that the thought of her 
 hearing what the pair of old randy wives had to say to 
 me for leading their precious sons astray was like gall 
 and wormwood.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 
 
 The boat was coming quickly in, and I could see that 
 Mistress Allison, who had the steering, knew nothing 
 at all of the matter, so that the boat in spite of the 
 efforts of the rowers, was in danger of being carried 
 past the landing-place on the northward side where 
 the beautiful beaches of shell-sand are. 
 
 Now, though I wished the whole crew far enough, 
 yet I did not want a drowning match on the Rathan 
 heuchs, so I ran down alone, the better to pilot them 
 in. The lads had fled ; and, indeed, their room was 
 better than their company. Only little Jerry Mac- 
 Whirter sat calmly finishing his perspective drawing 
 on the hilltop. 
 
 " Tell my mither I'll be doon the noo ! " he cried 
 after me as I ran. But I thought he was joking, and 
 went on without reply. 
 
 At last the keel grated on the beach, and I pulled 
 the boat ashore. Even as I did so the daft Maxwell 
 lass that I was so angry with unshipped her oar, put 
 her hand on my shoulder, and leaped ashore like a 
 young goat. The two old wives were speechless with 
 black anger. 
 
 43
 
 44 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Good-day to you, Mistress Allison and Mistress 
 MacWhirter, and to you, May Maxwell," I said, 
 lifting my bonnet to each, and speaking as I ought, 
 just to show that I was none so rough and landward. 
 
 " Guid-day to ye, Adullam ! " says she ; but the 
 two old wives said neither " Fair-guid-e'en " nor 
 " Fair-guid-day," but only sat and gloomed and better 
 gloomed. I stood at the side of the boat to offer them 
 a hand ; but Mistress Allison waved me away, and 
 asked the great stot of a farm lad that was at the oar 
 to jump out and help them ashore. 
 
 " No, an' I'll no, eyther ! " said that youth, 
 pleasantly. " Wull Maxwell said that I was to bide 
 by the boat — an' so I'll bide. Ye can loup ! " 
 
 So help he would not. But he was willing to give 
 his reasons. 
 
 " Wull is my maister, an' he's a man to be mindit, 
 I'm tellin' ye ! " he said, and that was all they could 
 get out of him. 
 
 So the old wives, who could have eaten all they 
 liked of me with pleasure and ease, had perforce to 
 accept my helping hand to get them out of the boat, 
 which had grounded high on the shell-sand and now 
 coggled upon an uneven keel. 
 
 " Think on the honour o't, Mistress Allison," cried 
 that randy lass May Maxwell, standing with her hands 
 on her sides and her elbows crooked out in a fashion of 
 her own. (I cannot think what made me notice these 
 things, for I fair hated the lass.) " Think," says she, 
 "on the honour of being handed oot by a laird on his 
 ain grund, or raither a prince in his ain kingdom, for 
 a' this isle will belong to his lordship. Ye're a big 
 woman the day, Mistress MacWhirter ! " And she
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 45 
 
 pretended to look about grandly, as though taking in 
 a prospect of wide dominions. 
 
 But never a word said I out loud, but in to myself 
 I kept saying, " Ul-tongued hizzy ! " And that I said 
 over and over. 
 
 But she was not yet done, and went on, " Is't 
 a captain or a general ye are, Adullam ? — my 
 memory's failin'. I think ye mentioned it the last 
 time ye were ower by at Craigdarroch. Or is it 
 nothing less than to be a king that'll serve ye ? My 
 faith," she added, looking round, " I'm thinkin' that 
 your standing airmy's a' run awa' ! " 
 
 She laughed elvishly here, though I, that am as 
 full of appreciation of humour as any man, could see 
 nothing whatever to laugh at. 
 
 " Here's the standing airmy, Mistress May Mis- 
 chief!" cried Jerry MacWhirter, upstanding as bold 
 as brass on the edge of the sea cliff which rose above 
 the white sands of the bay. 
 
 " Guid mornin' to ye, mither," he said, lifting his 
 blue bonnet politely; "and my service to you, 
 Mistress Allison. Your son Andrew sent his love till 
 ye." 
 
 " Ye impudent vaigabond ! " 
 
 At the word both of the women made a rush at 
 him with so angry a countenance that, though a man 
 grown, with (some) hair on my face, I gave back a 
 pace myself. But as for little Jerry, he never turned 
 a hair, but only sat down on the edge of the cliff, 
 looking now at the group and now at his drawing. It 
 was as pretty as a play. 
 
 " Dinna be in a hurry, mither," he said ; " it's bad 
 for the disjeestion ; an' this bank's ower steep for
 
 46 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 twenty stone, Mistress Allison. Try roon to the 
 left. There's a bonnier road there." 
 
 His mother's tongue got vent. 
 
 " Ye sorra' and vexation," she cried, " ye disgrace to 
 a' oor hoose, that was aye decent grocers ! Wait till 
 I get ye hame. I'll wile ye hame wi' the strong hand, 
 my lad, and lay on ye wi' a stout stick when I get ye 
 there. Ye shall suffer for this if there's hazel oil in 
 Dumfries, gibin' an' jeerin' at your ain blood-kin." 
 
 Little Jerry had a piece of paper on his knee, and 
 he made marks on it with a callevine (pencil) as if he 
 were drawing a map. I admired greatly to see him. 
 
 " Na, mither," he said ; " nae ill word did I ever 
 speak to you, or aboot you. I did but advise ye for 
 your health no to excite or overexert yersel', for, as 
 ye ken, Doctor Douglas tells ye that it's ill for the 
 bowel complaint. But my respects to my stepfaither 
 the Doctor. I hope ye left him weel." 
 
 "I tell ye that as sure as my name's Sarrah 
 MacWhirter, ye'll get sic a lickin' as ye'll no get ower 
 for a month when ye come back to Dumfries. I'll 
 get the burgh hangman to attend to ye, gin I haena 
 the strength o' airm to gar ye lowp mysel'." 
 
 At this fearful threat I looked for Jerry to lower his 
 colours, but he seemed more than usual calm, and 
 turned his head sideways to look this way and that at 
 his map, like a wild bird on a bough when it is not 
 sure about you. 
 
 " Na, mither, lickin's dune noo ! It's a' by wi'," 
 says he ; " so it's no for me to say whether or no yer 
 name's properly Sarrah MacWhirter or Sarrah Douglas. 
 I wasna at either o' your waddin's — at least, that I 
 mind o' — but whether or no, strap, taws, birk, an'
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 47 
 
 hazel, are a' by wi' ; and I'll come nae mair hame till 
 ye promise to let me alane." 
 
 " Ye ken, richt weel, ye vaigabone, that ye wad be 
 let alane. Aye, an' made muckle o' gin ye wad con- 
 sent to be a decent grocer in the Wynd, an' succeed 
 yer faither in the shop." 
 
 " Na, mither, I'll never be grocer nor yet chandler. 
 The provision line is a guid trade, but it's no for me. 
 I was aye that hungrysome that I wad eat a' the 
 profits. I wad cadge keel first, mither, like Silver 
 Sand. Can ye no let me alane ? " 
 
 His mother and Mistress Allison, quite aghast at 
 the turn affairs were taking, had retreated, and were 
 for making their way up the cliff by themselves. 
 May Mischief had gone back again to the boat, and 
 was lifting something heavy out of it. I went down 
 to help her, for I never could abide to see a woman 
 do man's work, even if I had reason to dislike her, as 
 I had right good reason to do this lass from Craig- 
 darroch ; though, to tell truth, I had some better 
 reasons also to think well of her, as I owned to myself, 
 remembering the night by the tomb of the MacLurgs 
 in the kirkyard of Kirk Oswald. 
 
 Then I heard little Jerry say from his post on the 
 top of the cliff, " Might I trouble ye, Mistress Allison, 
 juist to stan' still till I get your figure dune ? It disna 
 look bonny withoot the head, especially as I hadna 
 aneuch paper to draw your feet." 
 
 I began to see that though Jerry might be an 
 exceedingly useful ally with the tongue, his answers, 
 though soft enough to satisfy Solomon himself, were 
 not such as to turn away wrath. On the contrary, 
 if the two ladies were angry when they came seeking
 
 48 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 their sons on my island, Jerry had made them ten 
 times worse now. 
 
 All this time I was helping May Maxwell out of 
 the boat with something heavy, wrapped in a white 
 cloth. Whatever it was it gave out a rare good smell 
 to me, who had breakfasted some hours before on 
 plain flounders tramped on the flats at three in the 
 morning. 
 
 Overhead the two good dames were labouring 
 upward, Mistress Allison crying as she went — 
 
 " Andra ! Jock ! — wait till I catch ye ! " 
 
 This mode of address struck me as, to say the least 
 of it, unwise, and as one might say injudicious. 
 
 On the hillside Mistress MacWhirter made in- 
 effective swoops at her erring son, who evaded her 
 as easily as a swallow gets out of the way of a cow. 
 
 " And, my certes," cried the good dame, exceedingly 
 irate, " you are michty wasterfu', my laddie ! What 
 for are ye wearin' your best claes, I wad like to ken ? ' 
 
 " Because I hae nae better ! " said her obedient son, 
 for all the answer that was requisite. 
 
 The reasoning was excellent. Had he had better 
 he would have had them on. He had done his best. 
 
 I came up the path in the sunlight, carrying the 
 Maxwell lass's packet under my arm, and mighty 
 weighty it seemed to be. It was very hot underfoot 
 with the sun reflected from the rocks. It was clear 
 sky overhead. 
 
 " What are ye gaun to say to them ? " May 
 Maxwell asked, looking across at me in a way that I 
 thought kindlier. 
 
 " That I do not ken," said I ; " I was thinkin' o' 
 Jettin' them get it a' their ain way for the sake o' peace."
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 49 
 
 "Man, Adullam, for a lad that sets up to be a 
 general, ye hae little contrivance aboot ye. That's 
 a' weel eneuch for a while, an' when there's but yin 
 o' them. But there's twa auld wives' tongues here, 
 an' it's a'thegither useless, for as sune as the breath o' 
 yin gaes oot, the ither yin '11 talc' up the tale, and the 
 deevin' (deafening) will juist be eternal." 
 
 " But what will I do then, May Maxwell ? " said I. 
 
 " Misca' their bairns to their face. Misca' them for 
 a' the sornin' tinklers — the lazy, ill-contrivin' loons i' 
 the country. Gin that disna gar their mithers change 
 their tunes, my name's no May Maxwell." 
 
 " Your name's May Mischief, I see that weel ! " 
 I said, roguishly. 
 
 " What, ho, Adullam ! " she cried, making a pretty, 
 mocking mouth, "this will never do. Twa o' a 
 trade will never agree. Dinna you set up to be 
 waggish, like oor dog Toss that tried to play cat's 
 tricks on the lip o' the boiler an' fell amang the pig's 
 meat. Na, na, Adullam, stick to your generalin' 
 and captainin'. Did ye ever hear o' the calf that tried 
 to be humorsome." 
 
 " No," said I, " and none of your gibes." For 
 indeed it was no time for tales. 
 
 " c Weel,' said the farmer body to the calf, < I ettled 
 ye for a keeping quey, but a coo wi' a sense o' humour 
 is a thing that I carina hae aboot the hoose. The last 
 yin ett a' the wife's half-year's washin'. I'll e'en hae 
 to see what kind o' veal ye'll mak.' So the humor- 
 some calf died suddenly. It's a lesson to ye," said 
 Mistress May, coming quickly to the end of her 
 parable. 
 
 This, as all may see, was ever the way that she 
 
 4
 
 50 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 jeered at me, and I cannot think how it was that I 
 was not more angered. Maybe it was because she 
 was but a little supple bit thing, like the least of my 
 fingers with a string tied round the middle of it. 
 
 When we two got up to the house we went directly 
 into the kitchen. There we found the two dames 
 standing in the middle of the floor, and, as one might 
 say, each turning about on her own pivot, and sniffing 
 loudly on the nose of contempt. I could hardly keep 
 from laughing out loud. I looked to May Maxwell 
 to see if she was at it already. I made sure that, as 
 she saw humour in so many things, she would find 
 this vastly amusing. 
 
 But I was never more mistaken. Her little nose 
 was more in the air than usual. I always meant to 
 tell her when she was going on to me that her nose 
 turned up at the end. I never did, however, chiefly 
 because I did not believe that she would have cared a 
 pin if I had said it. 
 
 But her advice was worth the trying. 
 
 The kitchen, which had an oaken settle down 
 one side of it, had also two box-beds let into the 
 wall, and, in addition, two hammocks hanging for 
 those of us who preferred the swinging beds. Now 
 none of these beds were made, though the linen was 
 clean enough, for Silver Sand took it over to a decent 
 wife in the village of Orraland every three weeks to 
 be washed. The bachelor manners of the house of 
 Rathan did not admit of such a freit as bed-making. 
 It was to us a vain thing. We rose up, and we 
 heaved our coverings over the foot of the bed j or we 
 left them lying on the floor bdneath the hammock 
 where they had slipped off". When we got in we
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 51 
 
 drew them over us again. This was our bed-making. 
 But in the two elder women, and even in May Mis- 
 chief, this innocent and pleasing habit occasioned a 
 new and more bitter indignation. 
 
 " And this is the place that ye hae wiled my Andra 
 and my Johnnie to, puir lads ! " cried Mistress Allison, 
 her twenty stone of bulk shaking with indignation 
 and the difficulties of the ascent. 
 
 " Will ye please to take seats, my ladies ? " said I, 
 standing as politely as I could with my hat in my 
 hand, for I was in my own house. 
 
 The two dames looked at me, then at one another. 
 Finally they seemed to resolve to seat themselves. This 
 they did, each in her own manner. Mistress Allison 
 took hold of a chair on which some books and drawings 
 of little Jerry's were laid. As she tilted it forward these 
 slid to the floor. The good lady let herself drop 
 into it as a sack of flour drops on the ground when the 
 rope slips. 
 
 The thin, spare, irascible Mistress MacWhirter took 
 out of her swinging under-pocket a large India-red 
 kerchief. Then she carefully dusted the chair, turning 
 it bottom upward in a way which betrayed a rooted 
 distrust of everything in the Rathan. May Mischief 
 simply took a good look at the window-sill, set the 
 palms of her hands flat upon it at her sides, and hopped 
 up like a bird, but backwards. 
 
 Now the lads Andrew and Johnny Allison, with 
 Rab Nicoll, their cousin, were hid at the end of the 
 hallan, where the passage led from the back door out 
 upon the moor. They were therefore perfectly within 
 earshot. 
 
 As soon as Mrs. Allison got her breath she began,
 
 52 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Noo, Maister Paitrick Heron, could ye tell me by 
 what richt ye keep my laddies here, that should be 
 serving in their father's shop and rinnin' their mither's 
 messages — you that caa's yersel' a laird ? A bonny 
 laird, quo' he, to wile awa' decent folk's bairns frae 
 their ain door cheek to his ramshackle hoose, an' keep 
 them there — a wheen puir bits o' boys to cut his 
 firewood, and leeve in this fearsome-like hole." 
 
 " Aye," cried the shriller voice of Mistress Mac- 
 Whirter, " and I'll e'en pit yin to that. It was him 
 an' nae ither that pat my Jerry, that was aye a guid 
 lad, past the grocering." 
 
 " Thank ye, mither ; your obedient servant, Jerry 
 MacWhirter," put in the little rascal from the outside 
 somewhere. 
 
 "Ye are a regairdless hound, a black sheep in my 
 bonny flock, a " 
 
 " Puir lad that you an' my stepfaither lickit till he 
 was black and blue, but that ye'll lick nae mair on 
 this side o' the grave ! " cried Jerry from the doorway, 
 showing his witty, comical face round the corner. 
 
 I thought it was time now to try May Mischiefs 
 advice. 
 
 " Have ye said all that ye wad like to say ? " I said, 
 looking from one to. the other. 
 
 Neither spoke, knitting their brows and glooming 
 past one another out at the window. The lassie 
 Maxwell, whom I gave a look at before I began, to 
 see how she was taking the matter, had her fingers 
 plaited together over her knee, holding it a little 
 up and dangling her foot as she listened, innocent as 
 pussy-bawdrons thinking on the cream-jug. 
 
 " Now, listen to me," said I, very slow and calm,
 
 AULD WIVES' CL AVERS. 53 
 
 and speaking as English as I could ; " I have a question 
 or two to put to you both. In the first place, did I 
 ask or invite your sons to come to this my house 
 on the Rathan Isle ? As far as I ken they cam', 
 every one of them, without ever so much as a l By 
 your leave ! ' They hae been here, a pack of idle 
 vagabonds, eating me out of house and home for the 
 better part of two months. What the better am I of 
 that ? They have finished a side of pig for me 
 amang them. I'll be sending ye in a bonny account, 
 Mistress Allison, for they're braw eaters, juist like 
 yersel'." 
 
 At this Mistress Allison fidged in her seat as though 
 something was rendering her uneasy. Things were 
 not going so well. It was one thing for her to abuse 
 her jewels, but quite another to sit and hear an enemy 
 give her sons the rough side of his tongue. Mistress 
 May Maxwell looked on from her perch on the 
 window-sill, but said never a word. Butter would not 
 have melted in her mouth. 
 
 " And as for your son, Mistress MacWhirter, four 
 times I have had to expel him out of my house for ill- 
 bred conduct — - — " 
 
 " Five ! Tell the truth when ye are at it, though 
 ye be a laird ! " corrected little Jerry from the door. 
 " I stand upon my rights. Five, by Macmillan's 
 cup ! " 1 
 
 " And I declare that I shall no longer harbour such 
 a nest of rogues and vagabonds on this Isle of Rathan," 
 said I ; "there has been no peace since any of the names 
 
 1 A communion cup of ancient silver belonging to Macmillan of Bal- 
 maghie, the first Cameronian minister, to which a special sanctity was 
 ju idled by the country folk.
 
 54 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 of Allison and MacWhirter came hither. More nor 
 that, I am fully persuaded that they are a' hand in glove 
 with notorious Freetraders, such as Yawkins and Billy 
 Marshall. For aught that I know they may be art 
 and part in supplying undutied stuff to various law- 
 breaking, king-contemning grocers and even baillies. I 
 am resolved that I'll lodge informations with the officers 
 of His Majesty's Preventive forces and get the reward." 
 
 When I had finished I took a glint of my eye at 
 May Mischief to see how she was taking it. I was 
 rather proud of that last bit about the smuggling 
 myself, and I thought that she would see the humour 
 of it too, but instead I saw that she was both pale and 
 of a frowning countenance. Then I minded that the 
 Maxwells of Craigdarroch, all the seven big sons of 
 them, and even the dour Cameronian father, were said 
 to be deeper in the Gentle Traffic, as it was called, 
 than any others in the locality. 
 
 It was she who spoke first, and her words had a 
 little tremor in them. " I wad hae ye ken, Laird 
 Heron," she said, "that there are decent men who do 
 not allow that King George has any right to say c Ye 
 shallna brew yerseP a drap o' comfort or bring a barrel 
 from the Isle withoot my leave, according to the 
 ancient custom of your fathers,' and yet who have no 
 trokings or comradeship with Yawkins, the Marshalls, 
 and their like." 
 
 She still sat on her perch on the window-sill, but 
 she did not swing her feet any more. Indeed she 
 leant forward a little anxiously. 
 
 " Mistress May," says I, " I'm obligated to you for 
 your word. Indeed it would ill become my father's 
 son to think any such thing. Far be it from me to
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 55 
 
 meddle with decent folk that have their living to get. 
 But what I'm speakin' of is a very different maitter, 
 here are three or four idle loons coming and sorning 
 
 on me for months " 
 
 " Three ! " put in Jerry from the door ; " / work 
 hard ! " says he. 
 
 "Aye, so does the deil," said I, dryly, for all his 
 work was only slabbering with paint. 
 
 The two old ladies stood up together, as you have 
 seen the sentries of a line of geese picking worms and 
 gellecks (little beetles like earwigs) on the sand, stretch 
 their necks at a sound of alarm. 
 
 " I wad hae ye learn, you that miscaa's my sons, 
 Andra' and John, that they are decent lads, come of 
 decent people, burgher folk, and your faither's son wull 
 never be like them." 
 " God forbid ! " said I. 
 
 " Nane o' your taunts," she said. "I'm sure nane o' 
 my lads wull bide a day longer in this house when 
 I tell them what language ye put upon them, puir ill- 
 guided, innocent young things." 
 
 May Mischief seemed to incline her ear, tipping it 
 a little to the side as if to listen. I knew well what 
 was the matter. She was nearest to where these 
 rascals, Andrew, John, and Rab were hid at the back of 
 the hallan-end. I could distinctly hear that loon Rab 
 laughing myself. 
 
 "There's rats in this hoose, I'll be bound ! Ouch, 
 I see one ! " she cried, following something with her 
 eye along the dark of the passage as if terrified. 
 " Mistress Allison, tak' care ; I doot it's run in aboot 
 your coaties ! " she cried, pointing at the threatened 
 territory with her finger.
 
 56 THE RAIDERS; 
 
 That good dame rose once more with greater 
 agility from her seat than one might have expected 
 from twenty stone weight. 
 
 " Dinna tell me lees, lassie," she cried, switching 
 her tails about with great fervour. 
 
 By mischance she whisked a ball of grey wool which 
 we had for darning our stockings out from under her. 
 It bounded away into the dark passage. The ladies 
 caught a waft of it with the tails of their eyes. 
 
 " Save us ! " cried both of them together, springing 
 upon one chair and clutching one another. " There's 
 a nest o' them." 
 
 May Mischief by this time was standing on the 
 window-sill as terrified as the rest. 
 
 " Patrick Heron, tell me the truth," she cried, with 
 her eyes like coals; "tell me the truth — are there 
 really rats in this house ? " 
 
 " Plenty of them," quoth I ; " they come on to 
 the table at supper-time." 
 
 Now this is a great mystery, for in all else a braver 
 lass never breathed. This I will say, and I should 
 know. She gave me a look that might have bored a 
 hole in an inch board, and drew her skirts very close 
 about her ankles. It is my belief that she started 
 the noise about the rats for mischief, as she does all 
 things ; but had gotten a glisk of the grey thing that 
 louped from Mistress Allison's petticoat into the 
 darkness of the door. Then the terrors that she had 
 prepared for others came home to herself. At this 
 moment through the dark passage at the back there 
 came a noise of scuiflings and squeakings such as rats 
 make, and a terrible white beast, with long, scaly tail 
 and red eyes, bounded across the floor past the two stout
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 57 
 
 dames standing on the chair, and ran beneath the 
 window-sill upon which the young woman was 
 standing. A treble-tongued and desperate scream 
 went up. 
 
 " Now I'll bid ye guid afternoon, ladies ! " I said. 
 
 " No, no ! " cried Mistress Allison. " I'll tak' back 
 every word I said, laird — I wull indeed. I spoke 
 hastily — I own it." 
 
 "Good-day to you, Mistress MacWhirter," I said, 
 quietly, lifting my cap from the table. 
 
 There was more squeaking and scuffling, and, I 
 fear, the sound of muffled laughter in the passage. I 
 was only afraid now lest the rogues should overdo the 
 matter, so I made haste to be going. 
 
 " Maister Heron, Maister Heron," cried Mistress 
 MacWhirter, "my boy can bide here for ever gin he 
 likes. I'se never say a word to hinder him." 
 
 "Thank ye, mither," cried that youth from the 
 door ; "ye micht send me half a dozen pairs o' socks 
 when ye gang hame, just for a keepsake." 
 
 On the window-sill May Mischief was standing, the 
 graven image of apprehension. 
 
 " Guid e'en to ye, Mistress Maxwell," said I. 
 
 The pet white rat, which the rascals in the passage 
 had let loose from its box, gave a squeak of terror under- 
 neath. They had pinched its tail before they let it 
 loose. This was more than enough for the young 
 Amazon on the window-sill. 
 
 " Oh, Pat Heron," she cried, " dinna gang and 
 leave me ! Oh, I see the horrid beast ! Dinna, Pat, 
 an' I'll never caa ye c Adullam ' again. Mind the 
 kirkvard o' Kirk Oswald." 
 
 I made as if to prove hard-hearted, and set one foot
 
 58 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 past the other in the direction of the door. Then, 
 without a word or a look to forewarn me of her inten- 
 tion, she launched herself from the sill of the window 
 and caught me about the neck. 
 
 " Keep that beast off me, Patrick ! " she cried, 
 clasping me tight. 
 
 How we found ourselves outside in the still, silent, 
 rebuking sunshine after all this noisy riot I never 
 could tell. But before I knew where I was May 
 Maxwell broke out on me in anger — she that had 
 taken me soundly and honestly about the neck but a 
 moment before. There is no end to the mystery 
 of woman. Inside the wives were screaming both 
 together, and then, for a change, turn about. 
 
 " Think shame o' yersel', ye great hulk ; ye think 
 it clever to fley" (frighten) "a wheen silly weemenfolk. 
 When I get time I'll tell ye what I think o' ye. 
 Gang in and stop them." 
 
 Mistress Allison was crying " Murder ! " and 
 " Thieves ! " time about without pausing a moment. 
 May Maxwell looked so imperative and threatening that 
 I went in again at once. I had meant to remind her 
 that the matter was her own suggestion, and that she 
 herself had begun about the rats. But her anger and 
 her imagination were working so handsomely that 
 I did not dare. Besides, it is no use casting up any- 
 thing to a woman. She can always put ten to the 
 back of anything you say. My father often said so. 
 
 So I went in. 
 
 No sooner was I within the dark kitchen than 
 Mistress Allison, perhaps impelled by that terrible 
 thing example, did as the Maxwell lass had done, and 
 dropped upon my neck. I was under no illusions
 
 AULD WIVES' CLAVERS. 59 
 
 whatever this time as to the manner in which I found 
 myself on the ground. Mistress Allison is no feather- 
 weight. But ultimately at the long and last I got 
 them out, and on the green bank outside I gave them 
 some refreshment. Then I went into the house and 
 brought the evil callants out to make their peace and 
 my own. 
 
 "I hae catched the rat," cried little Jerry, "but it 
 was at the peril of my life. See here ! " He showed 
 red teeth-marks on his arm. 
 
 His mother screamed in mixed fear and admiration. 
 " Oh, my laddie, hoo durst ye ? A ratton's bite's 
 poisonous ! " 
 
 " D'ye think I'm carin' for that, mither, when I 
 can do onything to help ye ? " 
 
 He passed the limb round for inspection impartially, 
 as though it belonged to some one else. There were 
 certainly tooth-marks upon it, but they were broad 
 and regular. I, who had seen many a rat bite, knew 
 what the young scoundrel had done as well as if I had 
 seen him do it. Round the corner he had set his own 
 teeth in his arm. Then he had rubbed the place hard 
 for a moment to drive away the blood from under the 
 skin. So the tooth marks now stood out with alarm- 
 ing distinctness. It would not have imposed upon a 
 man for a moment, but it did well enough with 
 women. 
 
 Thus peace was arranged. 
 
 But not one of them would venture back into the 
 terrible house of Rathan ; which was a most strange 
 and unaccountable thing, for in after days I saw with 
 my own eyes one of these same fearful women-folk 
 loading muskets for the fighters under a hot fire with
 
 6o THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the greatest coolness, yet at the mention of a white 
 rat with red eyes any of them to the end of her days 
 would have got out upon the housetop and screamed. 
 The Almighty made all things very good without 
 doubt, but He left some mighty queer kinks in 
 woman. But then the whole affair of her creation 
 was an afterthought. 
 
 When finally they rowed away with the morose 
 keeper of the boat that evening all was kindliness and 
 amity. May Mischief undid the great white parcel 
 I had helped her to carry up from the boat. It was 
 an immense pie with most toothsome, flaky crust. To 
 look at it made our mouths water. 
 
 " That's no rat-pie ! " she said, for all good-bye. 
 
 And the strange thing is, that from that day, 
 though I was long in owning it to myself and abused 
 her as much as ever to other people, I liked the lass 
 none so ill in my heart.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 THE STILL HUNTER. 
 
 But I promised Silver Sand a chapter to himself. 
 Before all be done the justice of this will be acknow- 
 ledged. Silver Sand was at that time and for long 
 after, a problem like those they give to the collegers at 
 Edinburgh, which the longer you look at, grow the 
 more difficult. To begin with, there seemed nothing 
 uncanny about Silver Sand more than about my clogs 
 with their soles of birk. But after you knew him a 
 while, one strange and unaccountable characteristic 
 after another emerged and set you to thinking. We 
 shall take the plain things first. 
 
 Silver Sand was a slenderish man, of middle height, 
 stooped in the shoulders, and with exceedingly long 
 arms, which he carried swinging at his sides as if they 
 belonged to somebody else who had hung them there 
 to drip. These arms were somehow malformed, but 
 as no one had seen Silver Sand without his coat, no 
 one had found out exactly what was wrong. Also he 
 was not chancy to ask a question of. It was curious, 
 however, to see him grasp everything from a spoon to 
 a plough-handle or a long scythe for meadow hay, 
 with the palm downwards. 
 
 61
 
 62 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Silver Sand made no secret of his calling and liveli- 
 hood. He had a donkey and a dog, both wonderful 
 beasts of their kind — the donkey, the largest and 
 choicest of its breed — the dog, the greatest and fiercest 
 of his — a wolf-hound of the race only kept by the 
 hill gypsies, not many removes in blood from their 
 hereditary enemy. This fierce brute padded softly by 
 his master's side as he in his turn walked by the side 
 of the donkey, not one of the three raising a head or 
 apparently looking either to the right or to the left. 
 
 I had known Silver Sand ever since I was a lad. It 
 so chanced that I had been over to the mainland by the 
 shell-causeway that was dry at every ebb tide. I went 
 to gather blackberries, which did not grow in any 
 plenty on Rogues' Island. Now in the tangle of the 
 copse it happened that I heard a great outcry of boys. 
 I made straight for them as a young dog goes to a 
 collieshangie of its kind — by instinct, as it were. 
 Here I found half a dozen laddies of my own age, 
 or a little older, who were torturing a donkey. There 
 is no doubt that the animal could have turned the 
 tables on its tormentors but for the fact that it was 
 shackled with a chain and block about its forelegs, so 
 that QVQiy time it turned to spread its hoofs at its 
 enemies, it collapsed on its side. When I got near to 
 it the poor beast had given up trying to defend itself, 
 and stood most pitifully still, sleeking back its ears 
 and shutting the lids down on its meek eyes to ward 
 off the rain of blows. 
 
 Now whatever be my own iniquities, I never could 
 abide ill deeds to dumb things. So I went into the 
 fray like a young tiger. I had no skill or science 
 of my hands, but with nails and teeth, with clog-shod
 
 THE STILL HUNTER. 63 
 
 feet and plenty of wild-cat goodwill, I made pretty fair 
 handling of the first half-dozen, till a great lout came 
 behind, and with the knob of a branch laid me on the 
 grass. Then it had gone ill with the donkey and 
 worse with me — for I was far from popular with the 
 village lads — but for the advent of Silver Sand and his 
 dog, Quharrie. Then there were sore dowps and torn 
 breeks among the Orraland callants that night. Also 
 their mothers attended to them, and that soundly, for 
 coming home with their clothes in such a state. The 
 donkey, Silver Sand, and I fell on one another's necks. 
 Afterwards Silver Sand introduced me to Quharrie — 
 that terrible dog — making him tender me a great paw- 
 in a manner absurdly solemn, which made me kin and 
 blood-brother to him all the days of my life. And I 
 have received many a gift which I have found less 
 useful, as you shall hear. 
 
 In these troubled times to be a third with Silver 
 Sand and Quharrie, was better than to be the Pope's 
 nephew. So in this curious way began my friendship 
 with Silver Sand. 
 
 From that day to this Silver Sand came to Rogues' 
 Island and Rathan Tower every month. He made 
 journeys of three weeks' length to all the farm-towns 
 and herds' cothouses in the lirks of the hills, with keel 
 in winter and scythe-sand in summer — and it may 
 be a kenning of something stronger — that had never 
 King George's seal on it. But I asked him nothing 
 of this last. 
 
 At any rate he had the freedom of the hill fastness 
 of the gypsies up by the Cooran and the Dungeon of 
 Buchan, and he would make my blood run cold with 
 tales of their cruelty and wrong-Joing, and of the
 
 64 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 terror which they spread through all Carrick and the 
 hill country of Galloway. 
 
 It was a heartsome sight to see the encampment of 
 Silver Sand by the little burnside, that came down from 
 the high spring on Rathan Isle. It was aye like a 
 breath of thyme to me. For one thing the place was 
 really green all the year round, and seemed to keep 
 hidden about it the genius of the spring. 
 
 So Silver Sand and Quharrie, his great wolf-dog, 
 appeared there with a kind of regular irregularity, so 
 that we grew to expect them. Some morning, looking 
 out of my deep-set wicket in the high old house of 
 Rathan, there would be a whiifof blue wood smoke 
 rising down upon the side of the Rathan Linn, which 
 made me hurry on my clothes and omit my prayers, 
 which indeed are not so pressing in the morning. 
 
 When I came in sight of the encampment I usually 
 ran, for there I would see Silver Sand pottering about 
 in front of his bit tent, with a frying-pan or a little 
 black cannikin hung above his fire from three crooked 
 poles in the fashion he had learned from the gypsies. 
 Whenever I think of Paradise, to this day my mind 
 runs on gypsy poles, and a clear stream birling down 
 among trees of birk and ash that cower in the hollow 
 of the glen from the south-west wind, and of Silver 
 Sand frying Loch Grannoch trout upon a skirling 
 pan. Ah, it was ever the prime of the morning and 
 the spring of the year when Silver Sand camped on 
 Rathan. 
 
 " Shure, the top av the morn in' to ye, Pathrick ' " 
 cried Silver Sand, as soon as he had sight of me. 
 He had a queer, smileless humour of his own, and 
 often used to pretend that I was an evergreen Paddy
 
 THE STILL HUNTER. 65 
 
 because my father, for my future sins, had dubbed me 
 Patrick. 
 
 "Shure, an' the same to you, and manny av thim, 
 Brian Boru ! " it was my invariable custom to reply, 
 which pleased him much. Then I would get a red 
 speckled trout fresh out of the pan, which the night 
 before had steered his easy way through the clear 
 granite-filtered water of Loch Skerrow. It was 
 hardly food for sinful mortals. And all the time 
 Silver Sand told me strange tales and stirred the cold 
 potatoes in the pan where the trouts had been frying, 
 till they were burned crisp and delicious. On such 
 mornings there were no breakfasts for me at all in 
 the house. Indeed as long as Silver Sand remained 
 on Isle Rathan I only looked in occasionally at the 
 tower to see that all went well, but if the weather 
 were good I did not trouble the inside of it. 
 
 As for Silver Sand he never was comfortable inside 
 a room for more than half an hour together. The 
 wide lift was his house, and sun or shine, rain or fair, 
 made little difference to him. 
 
 The tales he told about the wild country by the 
 springs of Dee set me all agog to go there, and I 
 often asked him to take me with him. 
 
 "Ah, Pathrick, my lad, it's no for me to be leading 
 you there, and you with neither father nor mother. 
 It's a wild country and the decent folk in it are few. 
 Wi' man, I dinna even take Neddy into the thick of it. 
 'No farder than the Hoose o' the Hill for Neddy,' says 
 he, 'and thank you kindly.' But Quharrie and me's 
 another matter. Where Ouharrie and his master 
 canna gang, the 111 Thief himseP daurna ride. For 
 Silver Sand can fill his bags o' the fine, white granite 
 
 5
 
 66 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 piles on Loch Enoch shore, watched by a dozen of 
 the bloody Macatericks and the wilder Marshalls, an' 
 no yin o' them a hair the wiser." 
 
 And this was no idle boast, as you shall hear ere 
 the story ends. 
 
 Here I drew a long breath. These tales made my 
 quiet life here on the island seem no better than that 
 of the green mould which grew on the " thruch " 
 stones in the kirkyard. 
 
 I longed for the jingle-jangle of the Freetraders' 
 harness or the scent of the outlaws' camp-fires among 
 the great granite boulders. 
 
 " No yin o' them a hair the wiser," said Silver 
 Sand, striking a light with his flint and steel, and 
 transferring the flame when it lowed up to the bowl 
 of his tiny elf's pipe, so small that it just let in the top 
 of his little finger as he settled the tobacco in it as it 
 began to burn. 
 
 So the days went on and the lads at the house 
 buzzed about and went and came to their meals — the 
 Allisons and Rab Nicoll. Only little Jerry came 
 down to us by the waterside, for Silver Sand could be 
 "doin' wi' him" — boys in general, and even those 
 under my protection, he held in utter abhorrence. 
 Once Jerry brought tidings. 
 
 " There's a sharp-nosed brig with high sails setting 
 in for Briggus Bay or Maxwell's landing. She's been 
 beating off and on a' day with her tops'ls reefed," said 
 Jerry, in a careless way which intimated that he was 
 of opinion that his news was important, but which 
 yet left him a porthole if it did not turn out so to be. 
 
 In a moment Silver Sand sprang up the side of the 
 bank to a favourite lookout station of his own.
 
 THE STILL HUNTER. 67 
 
 He came down shaking his head. The news ap- 
 peared important enough to Silver Sand to please even 
 Jerry, who loved excitement of every sort. 
 
 " There's deviltry afoot ! " he said. " That's 
 Yawkins and his crew, an' Silver Sand kens what 
 they're after brawly, the ill-contriving wirricows — but 
 we'll diddle them yet." 
 
 Then looking down at the great dog, he cried, with 
 a kind of daft glee — 
 
 " Up an' waur them a', Quharrie, 
 Up an' waur them a', man ; 
 There's no a Dutchman i' the pack 
 That's ony guid ava, man — Hooch ! " 
 
 And Silver Sand, usually so dignified, executed a 
 fandango on the beach, his long arms hanging wide 
 of his sides and his light and limber legs twinkling. 
 Quharrie also lifted up his forepaws, moving them 
 solemnly, as though he wished to join his master in 
 his reel. 
 
 So it wore to evening and the stars came out. 
 Silver Sand seemed far from easy. He ran repeatedly 
 up to the lookout place, which he called Glim Point, 
 but ever came back unsatisfied. 
 
 " It's no dark aneuch yet to see weel ! " he said, for 
 his eyes seemed to be of greatest service at night when 
 the light was shut from the eyes of others. 
 
 " We'll hae veesitors the nicht, doon by the 
 Rogues' Hole, I'm thinkin'," said Silver Sand. 
 
 It was about half an hour past nine o'clock when 
 Silver Sand's nervousness became very apparent and 
 unsettling to myself. He ran about his camp and up 
 to the hilltop — in and out all the while, like a dog at
 
 68 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 a fair. Quharrie also bristled up his hair and shot his 
 short, sharp ears forward, and under his black lips 
 there was a gleam of white teeth, like the foam line 
 on the shore on a dark, blowy night. 
 
 Ouite suddenly a light flickered out of the gloom 
 across the water in the direction of the farmhouse of 
 Craigdarroch, and then Silver Sand's agitation became 
 pitiful to see. He ordered me about like a dog — nay, 
 like a very cur, for never a word uncivil did he say to 
 Ouharrie that was a dog indeed. The beast seemed 
 to understand him without a word, watching his look 
 with fierce eyes that shone like untwinkling stars. 
 
 " Gae to the House of Rathan, and bid the lads bar 
 every door and no sleep a wink the nicht. Tell them 
 to loaden a' your faither's guns, but no to shoot unless 
 the ill-doers try to break in the door. It's little likely 
 that they'll meddle wi' the big hoose o' Rathan, that 
 has no store of nowt or horse beasts. But wha kens ? 
 — wha kens ? — the gleds (kites) are gatherin' frae 
 the north an' frae the sooth. Ootland Dutchmen an' 
 French Monzies — broken men frae a' the ports o' 
 Scotland, and the riflf-rafFo' the Dungeon o' Buchan." 
 
 I ran to the house and startled the lads with my 
 news. And here again was a strange thing. The 
 boys that had hidden from their mothers so lately 
 brisked up, and if any of them were downhearted 
 about their position, they did not let the others see 
 it. It had been recognised among us that we might 
 have some trouble with the bad crew of smugglers, 
 whom my father's reputation as a marksman and 
 past-master in the Freetrade craft, had hitherto kept 
 at a distance. But even I had no small conceit of 
 myself, and I thought that I could soon make my-
 
 THE STILL HUNTER. 69 
 
 self as respected among any Yawkins and his crew as 
 ever my father had been. In which, as it happened, 
 I was grievously mistaken, for without Silver Sand, 
 I had been no better than a herring hung by the 
 gills in the hand of these unscrupulous men. I named 
 Andrew Allison captain of the stronghold of Rathan 
 till my return, for we did everything in military 
 fashion ; and gave him the key of the glazed press of 
 guns, which we often spent our wet days in oiling 
 with immense care and forethought. It gave me 
 pleasure only to look upon the row of them, shining 
 like silver on the rack. 
 
 For myself I took a pair of pistols, and was for 
 bringing the same out to Silver Sand, when I remem- 
 bered that without doubt he had his own by him.
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 THE RED COCK CROWS AT CRAIGDARROCH. 
 
 When I got back again to the shore Silver Sand was 
 already in the boat, Quharrie crouching in the bow. 
 
 I offered one of my pistols. 
 
 " Leave thae nesty things at hame," he said, with 
 unusual shortness of temper. "They'll be gaun blaffin' 
 aff when there's mair need to be as quiet as an ash- 
 leaf twirlin' to the grund in a windless frost. Talc' a 
 durk, man, instead ! " 
 
 He handed me a long, deadly-looking weapon in a 
 leather case, the look of which I did not like at all ; 
 yet, for the sake of peace, I stuck it in my black 
 belt with the brass buckle, alongside of the pistols in 
 their cases. 
 
 Silver Sand took the oars. He did not stick his 
 weapon — a dirk like mine — into his belt, but held it 
 gripped between his knees as he rowed. His oars 
 made no noise, neither on the rullocks nor yet when 
 he drew them into the boat to ship them when I had 
 got the little rag of a sail far forward to fill and draw. 
 Then Silver Sand steered with an oar. He made 
 direct for the Maxwells' landing-place. The star 
 before us at Craigdarroch grew larger and larger. 
 
 Flames shot up far into the sky, so that the sea was 
 
 7 o
 
 THE RED COCK CROWS. 71 
 
 lighted up for miles. Only under the shadow of the 
 woods, of Orraland, where the trees almost dipped 
 their branches in the salt water at high tide, was there 
 the safety of darkness. 
 
 So we kept far to the right, and skirted the shore 
 almost under the trees. As we came close in, we lost 
 the light wind which, a hundred yards from the cliff", 
 seemed to slant upwards and leave the shore line 
 breathlessly still, while from the burning onstead of 
 Craigdarroch the flames and smoke were tossed west- 
 ward in the strong breeze. 
 
 Situated as I was in the bow, I could not ask any 
 questions, and Silver Sand had not volunteered me any 
 information ; but I remembered that there was bad 
 blood between the lads of Craigdarroch and the evil 
 crew who went under the name of Captain Yawkins' 
 gang. It might well be that they were now taking 
 their revenge on the house ; and little as I cared, in 
 the way of love, for May Maxwell, it made my blood 
 run cold to think of her at the mercy of these sea 
 scoundrels and hill gypsies, who thought no more of 
 carrying away a lass from the Lowlands than of killing 
 one of their neighbours' sheep. 
 
 When at last we got into the shadow of the trees, 
 and ran the boat safely ashore in the slushy sand of the 
 little cove under the beeches by Orraland Gate, Silver 
 Sand whispered in my ear that we must " keep wide," 
 which is a herd's term for keeping some distance from 
 the flock in order not to alarm them. 
 
 " It's likely," said he, " that ye may hae some wark 
 wi' your shootin' aims. Keep them handy, an' when 
 ye hear me cryin' like a hoolet, ye can rin in to me, 
 but dinna fire gin ye can help it. The seven Max-
 
 72 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 well lads are a' awa' ower at the Isle o' Man, an' thae 
 vaigabones are dootless makkin' the best o't. It's the 
 lassie that I'm vexed for ; the rest might snore up in 
 reek for me" — a thing which I wondered to hear him 
 say. 
 
 Quharrie and Silver Sand sprang clear of the boat, 
 and I followed, knapping my toe on a stone as I did 
 so. I uttered a sharp exclamation. 
 
 " My man, it's as weel to tell ye sune as syne. In 
 ten minutes as muckle noise as that will get ye sax 
 inches o' smugglers' jockteleg in the wame o' ye. 
 They're no canny, thae boys, when onybody comes 
 across them. There's Dago thieves amang them, oot- 
 landish jabberers wi' the tongue, but gleg wi' the 
 knife as a souter wi' his elshin." 
 
 When we got up on the hillside clear of the woods 
 we could look down on the farmsteading of Craigdar- 
 roch. The ricks of corn which had been left unthrashed 
 from last year's harvest were in a blaze. Black figures 
 of men ran hither and thither about the house and 
 round the fires. We could see them disappearing into 
 the office-houses with blazing peats and torches. The 
 thatch of the barn was just beginning to show red. 
 Narrow tongues of fire and great sweeps of smoke 
 drove to leeward against the clear west. It was 
 strange that there seemed no help coming from the 
 other neighbouring farm-towns. We heard after- 
 wards that the Black Smugglers had sent a man with 
 a loaded gun to stand at the gate of each farm close, 
 and keep all within doors at the peril of life. 
 
 " It's the auld man's brass kist they're after, I'se 
 warrant," said Silver Sand ; " and maybes the bit lass 
 as weel."
 
 THE RED COCK CROWS. 73 
 
 I had not the least conception what he meant by 
 the " brass kist," but it grieved me to see the bonny 
 corn that had grown so golden on the braes anent the 
 isle screeving up in fire to the heavens ; and when he 
 mentioned the lass my heart sank within me only to 
 kindle again like fire the moment after. 
 
 "Yawkins threatened that he wad gar the Red 
 Cock craw on Auld Man Maxwell's rooftree afore the 
 year was oot, an' faith, he's dune it. But the seven 
 bauld brithers, sirce me, but they'll be wild men when 
 they come hame." 
 
 We were now on a heathery eminence, dry above 
 and wet beneath. 
 
 " Here's a hidie hole for ye, young Rathan," said 
 Silver Sand, giving me even at that moment my laird's 
 title, which he did not do often. " Clap close and 
 bide till Ouharrie an' me comes for ve ! " 
 
 With that he pointed with his finger to his great 
 wolfhound, and away in opposite directions the two 
 set at top speed, the man bending nearly as low as the 
 dog. The east wind whipped the bent, and the 
 crackling of the burning rafters and blazing stacks 
 came most unpleasantly to my ears. I wondered at 
 the time why there was no noise of men crying. 
 That was, I knew afterwards, due to Captain Yawkins 
 of Sluys, a very notable man, who forbade it. When 
 he was hung, some time afterwards, for piracy at 
 Leith, there were seventeen warrants out against him 
 for all manner of crimes, from trepanning a lass on the 
 Isle of Gometra (somewhere in the Highlands), to 
 bloody piracy on the high seas. When I was in 
 Edinburgh last I saw him swing in chains on Leith 
 sands, very well tarred, and the flesh dried flat to the
 
 74 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 bones with the bensillins; 1 wind off the Baltic lands. 
 And he is more comfortable there than he had been in 
 old Richard Maxwell's hands that night. 
 
 This, at least, was his doing, and even then the cup 
 of his iniquities was brimming perilously near the lip. 
 Captain Yawkins would not much oftener seek the 
 port of Sluys. 
 
 It behoved me, however, to lie low among the 
 heather, and watch warily the tarry scullions that were 
 making such a hash of the bien and comfortable 
 homestead. Only about two hundred yards from 
 where I lay in the sheuch (trench) of the moss-hagg, 
 I could see, plai'n as black on white, a sailor man 
 with a musket which he took over his shoulder as if he 
 had been one of His Majesty's red soldiers — as indeed 
 he was, but deserted and waiting for the tow-rope or 
 the ounce of lead which, in good sooth, and in the 
 fitting time of an all-wise Providence, he received in 
 due course. 
 
 The place where I lay was on the edge of the wild 
 country which stretches along the shore, very close in 
 all round Galloway, save only about the estuaries of 
 the rivers. From it the moors run back, in broken 
 moss-hagg and scattered boulder-stone, to the Screel 
 o' Criffel, which is the highest hill in that locality, 
 and as they say, stands up from Solway, watching the 
 tides and spinning the weather. 
 
 I was to do nothing except lie thus prone on my 
 forefront, with my nose cocking out of the heather, 
 and keep a watch till Silver Sand came back. It 
 grieved me to be so actionless. It would have suited 
 me better to be up and doing, if it were only to escape 
 
 1 A " bensil " is a cold, bask, dry east wind.
 
 THE RED COCK CROWS. 75 
 
 that lass's tongue. But my heart grew sore for the 
 thought of her among all these regardless men. 
 
 Now there were a number of low, dwarfish scurrie 
 thorns, bent away from the sea by the wind, on this 
 waste place — the moor being generally very flat and 
 bare. I remembered that I had come over to harry 
 gleds' nests here in the years when yet my father was 
 alive, and I could think on such things. 
 
 It came to my mind also at the same time that that 
 was both a higher and a safer place for my watch 
 quite near, by reason that it stood on a little mound 
 that had been made by the hand of man, some say 
 for the purposes of baron's justice in the old time of 
 pit and gallows. There was also a stone dyke round 
 a well, which always flowed cool and clear from under 
 a great rock in the midst of the bit scrunts of birks 
 and flat-lying, ground-creeping thorns. 
 
 I did not think that Silver Sand would be disap- 
 pointed or angry, because the place where I designed 
 to go was but a few hundred yards further west, and 
 at the head of a glen which led up from the shore. 
 This would also, as I well knew, be our best road 
 to the boat we had left on the shingle. So, as silently 
 as I could, I retreated through the long trough of 
 the cold, black-looking moss-haggs. I had not gone 
 far, progressing, as the partan (crab) is said to do, 
 backwards, when a great rush of escaping cattle tore 
 over the face of the moor, and one great stot coming 
 my way trod upon me and "gorrochcd" me deeper 
 into the black peat broth. For a long while I lay 
 still as death, but as there seemed to be no pursuer, 
 more stealthily than ever I resumed my way. 
 
 Soon I was climbing, a fearsome spectacle of dirt,
 
 y6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 up the side of the knowe of the " scroggie thorns." 
 Suddenly, as I crawled, I was seized from behind in a 
 grasp that threatened to dislocate my neck-bone, and 
 a voice in my ear said, very low and deadly — 
 
 " Yae word, ye crawlin' blastie, an' I'll let the life 
 oot o' ye ! " 
 
 Now this was not at all a useful observation. It 
 was a perfect impossibility for me to utter a word had 
 my life depended on it, for the thumbs which were 
 choking me had been at the work before, and the 
 pressure on my windpipe threatened to shut out the 
 breath of life from me in a few moments. There 
 were flashes of fire in my eyes, and stars that fell and 
 burst ; a sound as of a great spate of waters roared 
 in my ears ; then darkness. 
 
 To all intents and purposes I died then, ror to lose 
 consciousness by violence is to die. What more is 
 there left to experience — in this life, at least ?
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 NIGHT ON THE MOOR. 
 
 When I came to myself it was through the buzzing 
 of a hundred million bees, each as large as my hand. 
 It was a cold country I travelled through back to this 
 earth, so cold that I wondered how such great bees 
 came there and what flowers they were that they fed 
 on, and who hived them, and what would happen if 
 one of them stung me. Also many other things I saw 
 which it would be tiresome to write down, even if 
 there were a winter's forenight to do it in. But after 
 the bees there followed a thought of pie, and what a 
 pity it was that I had not got that lass Maxwell's pie 
 eaten before I died. It was a good pie. It was warm, 
 too, when she brought it, and I was so cold. Then 
 at the last I wondered where I might be. I said to 
 myself, " I know not where this place is, but it is not 
 heaven, at any rate, so I must e'en content myself." 
 Yet I remember I was not very much alarmed, nor 
 yet very much disappointed. It was, in fact, as I had 
 expected, or so like it that there was no need to make 
 complaints. I had a comfortable sense of being some- 
 how provided for. 
 
 When I came alive again there was a light on my 
 
 77
 
 78 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 face from somewhere, and somebody's arm was round 
 my head, and there was a stronger suggestion of pie 
 in my mind than ever. 
 
 " Is he come to ? " said some one in a man's gruff 
 voice, but yet softly. 
 
 u No yet, faither. I think he's comin' ; but he's 
 gotten an unco chirt" (sudden squeeze), "puir laddie." 
 
 " It was a muckle bullock, May," said I, as hoarse 
 as a crow, the words whistling in my throat like the 
 night wind in the keyhole of the outer door. Being 
 awake now I was aware how it was that my thoughts 
 had run on pie, which, when you come to think of it, 
 is a sufficiently curious thing to think upon when you 
 are dead. 
 
 " Aye, it was my faither," she said, quietly, and 
 quite in earnest, transferring my head from her 
 shoulder to some kind of pillow made of young 
 bracken and a shawl — no kind of exchange at all, 
 to my thinking. " He thocht ye war yin o' the 
 robbers." 
 
 " An' weel it is for you, young Rathan, that my 
 dochter kenned ye ; for had ye been yin o' that 
 accursed crew o' Yawkins', ye wad hae suppit in hell 
 the nicht," said the old man of Craigdarroch, solemnly 
 and without heat, simply stating a fact which might 
 be relied upon, i wondered to hear him, for though 
 he had been a wild man most of his days, in his later 
 years he had become a great professor and a regular 
 attendant on the Cameronian meeting at the Nine 
 Mile Bar. 
 
 There was a cut on Richard Maxwell's forehead, 
 done, as his daughter presently told me, with a 
 seaman's cutlass when he broke away from them.
 
 NIGHT ON THE MOOR. 79 
 
 They had been awakened by the herd-boy crying that 
 the outlaws were come down from the hills to drive 
 the cattle. Maxwell wakened easily, being a light 
 sleeper, and his daughter was soon beside him, and 
 that in much better order of apparel, as my own 
 observation told me, than might have been deemed 
 possible in such hasty and sudden deray. 
 
 Her father cried to her to come and help him to 
 carry away a chest of papers and valuables which the 
 robbers were coming to search for in his house at 
 Craigdarroch ; for this Captain Yawkins had often 
 threatened to do, swearing that he would harry Max- 
 well the Psalm-singer (for so they nominated him) 
 with fire and sword, with the driving of cattle, and the 
 hamstringing of horse. So ere the mounted smugglers 
 arrived, May and her father got clear of the steading 
 and came out here to the moss-haggs where for the 
 present they were safe. But it happened that her 
 father, not content with what he had possession of, 
 ran back that he might get his Bible. Then some of 
 the outrunners of the robber band coming or he was 
 aware, thrust in on him before he could win clear ; 
 but he broke through them, leaving one on his back 
 at the steading gate, which is called the White 
 Liggate ; it is on the way to the watering-place 
 where the plough-horses drink. And so he came 
 hither with his coat most torn off his back, a great 
 ragged cut on his brow, yet holding his Bible in one 
 hand and a naked sword in the other. 
 
 This was the substance of what I learned lying 
 there on the moor on May Maxwell's shawl, while 
 old Richard Maxwell in a low voice cursed the 
 destroyers of his home and plenishing with great
 
 80 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 curses out of the Book of Psalms. It made me 
 admire greatly to hear him so ready with his Bible 
 words. 
 
 To us lying there in a little came Silver Sand and 
 Quharrie, breathed and " peching " with the race. 
 Silver Sand looked a sharp reproach when I told him 
 how it was that I came hither, out of the place and 
 duty in which he left me ; but he said no word, 
 neither then, nor yet afterwards. May Maxwell and 
 her father did not take his appearing as at all a strange 
 thing ; of which I now think the reason to be that all 
 Silver Sand's movements were so still and secret that 
 no one would have been much astonished at any hour 
 of the day or night had he appeared at their door or 
 suddenly vanished from their sight. Yet to me he 
 was always good and kind ; and, indeed, so remains 
 to this day — though now he is, as he says, so stricken 
 in years that the tether-rope is round his foot, with 
 rheumatism in the joints for clog and shackle to keep 
 him nearer home, which means near the old house of 
 Rathan. 
 
 " We maun quit from here and that right speedy," 
 said Silver Sand, " for they are firing the heather and 
 bent, and it will run like February muirburn in this 
 dry, easterly wind." 
 
 " What is it they want ? " said I to Silver Sand, for 
 I could now sit up, and was feeling infinitely better. 
 In truth it was more the surprise of it that hurt me 
 than the old man's thumbs, or even the cloots (hoofs) 
 of that great rampaging stot which trampled me into 
 the moss-hole when the drove went over me. 
 
 "What is't they want ? " said Silver Sand, testily. 
 " The outlaws, what they can find — but Yawkins, he
 
 NIGHT ON THE MOOR. 81 
 
 wants that bit kist " (pointing to the brass-bound box 
 on which old Craigdarroch was sitting), "an' anither 
 lad that I ken o', he's mair anxious to fa' on wi' the 
 lass, I'm thinkin'." 
 
 At this May Maxwell, kneeling by her father, 
 seemed to draw nearer to me in the darkness ; but 
 whether it was from curiosity to hear, or only for 
 company and the sense of safety, I could not at that 
 time rightly understand. 
 
 The old man was keeping straight on, interposing 
 prayers among his curses in a manner which, had the 
 matter been a trifle less serious, might have produced 
 laughter. But none of us had even a trifling sense of 
 humour among us that night. 
 
 " Curse them," he said, hissing his words — " curse 
 them root and branch ! But I maim try to be patient. 
 It's doubtless the Lord's will that my seven braw sons 
 should be awa' at the Isle o' Man when this comes 
 upon me in my auld age. I maun e'en try to bear this. 
 It's after ci the LorcVs will — but wait till they get 
 hame, thae seven braw lads, an' come to the blackened 
 waa's o' Craigdarroch, and see the grey ash on the 
 rick-bottoms that their ain hands laid, an' a' the bonny 
 sheaves gane luntin' up into the sky — there'll be a 
 vengeance that day so that they shall tell it to the 
 babe yet unborn — yea, for many days. But, after a', 
 it's a mercy it's nae waur, an' we maun try to be 
 patient. It is the Lord's will ! "
 
 CHAPTER IX, 
 
 IN RAMSAY BAY. 
 
 How all this came about I did not learn for long after, 
 nor what was the pick that the Black Smugglers had 
 taken at the Maxwells, though I was about to put my 
 hands so deep in their quarrels. Nor, in truth, did I 
 greatly care; but it is a good tale, and necessary to 
 the proper understanding of the whole matter from 
 the beginning. It was told to me severally by 
 Ebenezer Hook, who on that dav steered the Van 
 Hoorn in action (which, at that time, was the name 
 of Captain Yawkins' brig), and also by Kennedy 
 Maxwell, the youngest of the seven brothers who had 
 gone for their spring cargo to the Isle of Man. 
 
 I shall try to straighten out these two tangled stories 
 as best I may. The motive of the Maxwells was 
 plain. Will, the eldest, had news of a tidy cargo of 
 French brandy, German perfumes, and Vallenceens 
 lace snug on the northern shore ot Ramsay Bay. So 
 his brothers and he set sail in the Spindrift^ the little 
 lugger of fourteen tons, which had run many cargoes 
 and brought much joy and sorrow to the adventurous 
 
 house of the Maxwells of Craigdarroch. 
 
 82
 
 IN RAMSAY BAY. 83 
 
 Now it so happened that in Ramsay Bay at that 
 time Captain Yawkins (the head of the "Black" side 
 of the traffic, as the Maxwells chieftained the "White") 
 lay becalmed, with his boats out for towing and his 
 sentinels on Maungold Head lest a ship of war should 
 come and surprise him within the harbour. 
 
 It was the great Yawkins' custom to ask for what 
 he wanted, and if he did not get it — why then, with 
 no more words to take it with violence superadded 
 to revenge the ignominy of the refusal. Word was 
 brought to him that the Galloway Maxwells were just 
 about to lift a " square " cargo of the finest ever 
 run from the island. Some enemy no doubt took 
 to Yawkins this news — as might well be, for the 
 Maxwells were a little over-fond of the strong hand 
 themselves. 
 
 Forthwith came Captain Yawkins in the grey of 
 the morning, and from their snug hiding-place in 
 lee of the Red Fisherman's cottage, took the linen- 
 wrapped webs of the fine Vallenceens, the ankers of 
 French brandy, and the cases of the sweet-smelling 
 water of Cologne. The Red Fisherman ran to the 
 shore as the men from Yawkins' longboat were land- 
 ing, and with his fingers to his mouth gave the 
 "gled's whistle" — the piercing signal agreed upon 
 between himself and his employers, the Maxwells. 
 
 Up tumbled these seven dark-haired men from the 
 tiny forepeak and from under the spread sail. In the 
 stillness of the morning they could hear the rattle of 
 , their own beloved casks as they were swung into the 
 boat of their adversary. Now the Maxwells were no 
 long-suffering persons, and it had not been like them 
 to let their goods go without an effort.
 
 84 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 With his sheath-knife ready at his hip, Will Max- 
 well cut the rope of their small anchor as it ran over 
 the stern. 
 
 " Away with the foresail ! " he cried. 
 
 In a trice the great brown sail, barkened with tan- 
 pit juice as was Galloway wont, mounted steadily aloft 
 and took the wind. Will Maxwell ordered his crew 
 to haul the sheet aft, and in a moment the dainty 
 little lugger was dancing over the ripples, running 
 straight for the robber longboat, which was now 
 reaching out for Captain Yawkins' ship that lay in 
 the offing at the mouth of the bay, just under 
 Maungold Head. 
 
 Will Maxwell handled his little craft well. She 
 came away with the breeze in her great square of sail 
 faster than anything else would have done in that 
 light wind, the ripples talking briskly under her fore- 
 foot, lapping and making a pleasant noise. So Kennedy 
 Maxwell says, and he wonders how he had time to 
 think on these things. He also admired much to see 
 a black corbie of the great sea breed chase a pirate 
 gull, and force it to drop a fish it had just taken 
 from one of the white-breasted sea-birds which were 
 wheeling and plunging about. Kennedy Maxwell says 
 that he felt himself upon a similar quest. 
 
 But the bay was so narrow and the rowing boat 
 came on so fast that the man in the stern sheets had 
 only time to cry, " Hold ofY, you lubbers, or you'll 
 run us down ! " before the prow of the Spindrift 
 crashed right along the larboard side of the ship's 
 longboat, carrying away the oar-blades before there 
 was time to ship them. Six of the Maxwells tumbled 
 into the longboat in a moment and were hard at it
 
 IN RAMSAY BAY. 85 
 
 with fist and whinger, while Will stayed aboard and 
 made fast to the stern with his boathook. 
 
 The brothers had a great advantage in leaping from 
 a height, and it may be that the Black Smugglers did 
 not fight at all up to their reputation. Indeed, except 
 that peppery Welshman, Ap Evans, in the stern sheets, 
 no one of them had much heart in the business. 
 Moreover, a jollyboat did not give them fair scope 
 for the display of their powers. They required the 
 sweep of a ship's deck, and there, as we shall see, they 
 were no cowards. 
 
 Ap Evans gave David Maxwell a long, slashing cut 
 down the outer arm, which bothered him for manv a 
 day. But he was soon held by Kennedy, who had 
 never before seen the blood flow, and was therefore 
 the most heedless, while black-bearded Will from the 
 lugger kept the others quiet with a pistol. It took 
 no long time for the active brothers to get their cargo 
 on board their own boat again and sail away, feeling 
 themselves very big men indeed — a sentiment which, 
 however, did not make them any the safer. 
 
 As they cast loose Will Maxwell cried, "My com- 
 pliments to Captain Yawkins, and thank him kindlv 
 for his assistance in getting our stufF aboard. It 
 was freendly done. Say that I'll no forget it." 
 
 " The devil fly away with you, for an ugly Gallo- 
 way stot ! " cried Ap Evans, the Welshman, his 
 twinkling grey eyes contracted as to their pupils till 
 the black within them shrunk to the merest pin-points. 
 Kennedy says that he noticed this particularly, for it 
 reminded him of their grim cat Toby when he was 
 watching the cage-bird. 
 
 So the seven bold brothers bore awav with no
 
 86 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 greater damage than a cutlass slash, which did not yet 
 bother David much, the wound not having had time 
 to stiffen. 
 
 All this time Captain Yawkins was not idle. He 
 had been awakened from his morning sleep by the 
 news that his attempt on the Maxwells' cargo was 
 likely to fall awry. So being, like all his kind, both 
 swift and energetic, he at once ordered his boats out, 
 made haste to get his anchor up, cast loose his Long 
 Toms, and prepared to intercept the daring lads of 
 Galloway as soon as they came between him and the 
 shore. 
 
 This he might possibly have done, but it so hap- 
 pened that just when Will Maxwell was bandying 
 compliments with old Ap Evans, the smugglers' watch 
 set on Maungold Head signalled that there was danger 
 approaching. Thrice the signal came, in a way that 
 could not be misunderstood. Indeed it had been 
 made before, but so intent were the men aboard of 
 the Fan Hoorn on watching the affray of the boats 
 that not an eye had seen the first signals. 
 
 Round the Head, beating up from the south in the 
 light wind, came a vessel with tall spars sweeping the 
 sky. 
 
 " A myriad devils," cried Skipper Yawkins, " we 
 have watched these landlubbers overlong. We shall 
 lose our ship. Here she comes. By the weathercock 
 of Krabbendyk, 'tis the Seahorse^ boys — sloop of war 
 of eighteen guns. See the jack at her mizzen. Mark 
 their sky scrapers. She means to have us, boys, but 
 then / mean that she shall not. Captain Yawkins is 
 not the man to be fooled twice in a morning." 
 
 The men bustled about the decks — Dago rats and
 
 IN RAMSAY BAY. 87 
 
 broad-beamed Dutchmen, hill country gypsies taken 
 to smuggling — and the whole crew of outlaw men 
 gave a rousing cheer, for they were angry and wanted 
 to have it out with some one. Before the guns were 
 cast loose and their muzzle sheetings removed Ap 
 Evans came on board, and his strident voice was 
 to be heard setting the men to their quarters, for 
 Captain Yawkins fought his brig like a king's ship. 
 Indeed many a king's ship was less well found. Two 
 Long Tom stern chasers looked over the tafFrail, six 
 twelve-pounder carronades grinned throsgh the ports ; 
 and besides these there was Yawkins' pet, a fine new 
 twenty-four pounder on the forecastle, just shipped 
 and never yet fired. 
 
 Out between the heads of Ramsay Bay the Gallo- 
 way lugger went spinning. In ordinary times she 
 would have got a shot across her bows to heave her 
 to, but Lieutenant Mountenay of the Seahorse had 
 mettle more attractive than a possible score of brandy 
 ankers under the sheepskins and bullock-hides of the 
 lugger Spindrift. So the Maxwells tossed their bonnets 
 in an ecstasy of salutation, and bore away north for 
 White Horse Bay. It happened, however, that at the 
 Point of Ayre they saw the spars of yet another 
 king's man, waiting in the seaway with her topsails 
 backed, keeping in the clear morning a bright look- 
 out upon the four coasts. It was not in their mind to 
 run any more risks when they had once come so well 
 off". So Will Maxwell turned the head of the Spin- 
 drift southward in the direction of Derby Haven, 
 where for safety they landed the goods again ; and by 
 the time that the second king's ship, which proved to 
 be the preventive schooner Ariel, sent a boat aboard,
 
 88 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the Maxwells were once more peaceful, coast-wise 
 traders, with a cargo of salt, alum, barytes for the men 
 of Mona, and hides and sheepskins to take back in 
 exchange to the tanneries of Dumfries. 
 
 So the young officer who came on board was obliged 
 to report all right upon his return. But MacCallum, 
 the boatswain of the Ariel, said to Kennedy Maxwell — 
 
 "My lad, this may do yince, an' twice, an' gin ye 
 hae luck three times ; but at the hinder end ve'll cool 
 yer heels in Kirkcudbright jail. An' that's no a 
 bonny place, I can assure ye." 
 
 " Hoot, Rab," said Kennedy, " it's no sae lang since 
 ye war rinnin' the bonny faulds o' lace wi' the best o' 
 us. Ye canna hae muckle to say." 
 
 " Aye, Kennedy, to my shame that's ower true, but 
 I hae seen the error o' my ways in time ! " 
 
 " Likely that," returned Kennedy, dryly, " an' the 
 guid o' a pound a week and a pension at the hinder end." 
 
 "Aweel, Kennedy, say as ye like, my word was 
 kindly meant, lad," said the boatswain. 
 
 " An' kindly ta'en," said Kennedy, nursing his arm 
 with his other hand ; " but gin I war you I wad come 
 nae mair to yon toon. My faither's a passionate man, 
 in spite o' havin' seen the error o' his ways." 
 
 "What for should I keep awa' frae your hoose or 
 ony ither hoose ? " cried Rab MacCallum. " Ye ken 
 Deputy Dallas, the gauger, is there every ither nicht." 
 
 " I ken that," said Kennedy. "Ye see the way o't is 
 this, MacCallum — my faither can be doin' wi' preven- 
 tive men, an' at a pinch he can put up wi' maybe a 
 smuggler or twa. But the man he canna do wi' is 
 the man that has been yae thing an' noo is anither, an' 
 wha tries to keep a fit in ilka camp ! "
 
 IN RAMSAY BAY. 89 
 
 " Naebody ever said that I gied information," said 
 MacCallum. 
 
 " Na," said Kennedy, " but ye come frae Rerrick 
 and the sted o' the gallows that hanged Henry Greg 
 is atween yer een." l 
 
 The boatswain flew into a passion. 
 
 " I'll catch ye yet, you Maxwells ; you an' your 
 prood sister. Ye a' hae the gibin' tongue an' the 
 pridefu' e'e that scorns honest fowk. But I'll hae ye 
 laid low some day yet." 
 
 " That shows," cried Kennedy, " that ye hae tried 
 to do it afore. A fig for your threatenings. Ye're 
 like daft Tammy Norie's bladder that he carries 
 daudin' on a stick — fu' o' wind, and maybe a pea or 
 two rattling i' the wame o' ye ! Nocht else ! " 
 
 1 A dark hint at a supposed local propensity for underhand work.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 SMUGGLER AND KING'S MEN. 
 
 Meanwhile there was a braver job going forward 
 between the Heads of Ramsay. For the account of 
 this I am obliged to Ebie Hook, who all that day 
 was at the tiller of the Fan Hoorn^ stretched whiles 
 across it, with a strong Dutchman to help him to 
 twirl it round, and whiles steering her with his finger 
 and thumb to sail her within a cat's jump of the orders 
 of Captain Yawkins. 
 
 Now there have been many things said against 
 that wondrous Dutchman, and no doubt he had many 
 a sin on his soul, forbye murder in all its different 
 degrees ; but there are two things that no one could 
 ever lay to his charge — that Yawkins was either 
 coward or bad sailor. 
 
 Many a time in the ward-room when retelling the 
 story of how the Dutchman ran athwart his hawse off 
 Ramsay Heads, Lieutenant Mountenay would admit — 
 
 " Tarred, wizened, sun-dried, and smoke-dried, if 
 you were to take down old Yawkins from the shore 
 end of Leith pier, you would have a better sailor than 
 I or any man on King George's navy roster." 
 
 Nor did any say him nay, for it was about his sixth 
 
 90
 
 SMUGGLER AND KING'S MEN. 91 
 
 glass that he was in the habit of saying this, and he 
 was a stark carle in his cups. 
 
 So on the quarter-deck of the Van Hoorn, which 
 was kept like that of a man-of-war for whiteness, 
 Ebie Hook stood picking his orders from the captain 
 himself, and crying, " Aye, aye, sir," like clockwork. 
 
 He said that it was a pleasure to see the ship fall 
 into her marks like a racing cutter, and stretch away 
 on another tack as steady as one's married wife. 
 
 "She was the sweetest boat that ever sailed, was 
 the Van Hoorn, and Yawkins was the very son-of-a- 
 gun of a fine seaman — not an ounce of tallow about 
 him anywhere." 
 
 " Man, Rathan," Ebie would say, " the way he 
 sailed that ship in the freshening breeze that blew 
 between the Heads was a miracle. Every time we 
 wore ship I saw the wuddy " (gallows) " plain afore me, 
 for it wasna only smuggling, it was black piracy they 
 had against us had we been ta'en wi' the plunder of a 
 sunken Greenock barkanteen in oor hold. Man, I 
 tell ye I was feared. I misdooted I wad never mair 
 get merry at Stanykirk Sacrament, or foo at Kelton- 
 hill Fair. ' It's a' up wi' ye noo, Ebie,' says I ; ' I 
 hae telled ye mony a time it wad come to this. The 
 teuch tow-rape an' the weary wuddy hae gotten ye at 
 the hinder end.' 
 
 " But oh, man, it wasna to be at that time, what- 
 ever ; an' it was by clean-run seamanship that we 
 wan clear." 
 
 Now, being a landsman, I have not the skill of 
 sea-terms to tell the story as Ebie told it, but the gist 
 of it was as follows : — 
 
 "The way out of the brulzie" (fray) "was this,"
 
 9 2 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Ebie Hook would begin (I see him yet, though he 
 went to his account years ago. He sat ever by the 
 chimney corner and lunted away on his cutty pipe, 
 using tobacco of prodigious blackness and strength, 
 such as he had learned to smoke in foreign countries 
 when he was a traveller — so vile that it was evil 
 enough to the stomach to stand the reek of his pipe 
 after it had passed out of his mouth). "The bo'sun 
 of our ship was Abraham Anderson, from the Crae 
 Brig. As the king's man came nearer he piped to 
 quarters ; and it was a pretty sight to see, though 
 being at the wheel I had little enough time to be 
 seeing it. 'Twixt watching the binnacle and jumping 
 to auld Yawkins' word I had enough to do. It 
 wasna playing at x's and o's to be steerin' for that 
 crossbones of a Dutchman, whether in a chase or a 
 battle. He would have stuck a knife in you as quick 
 as get married on shore — and they say he was married 
 as many as sixty-seven times, the old Mahommetan ! 
 
 " And it was bonny to see the boarding nets triced 
 up and the pikes ready, the pistols all primed and the 
 matches burning, ilka yin stuck in a linstock on the 
 deck. 
 
 "The gunners were dumping round shot on the 
 boards, and the grape and cannister were coming up 
 from below. Outside the harbour, near the entrance 
 of the bay, lay the king's ship, waiting to catch us as 
 we cam' oot, with all their guns trimmed to rake us 
 as we gaed by them. 
 
 " It was doubtless mighty fine, but the king's 
 officer was a fresh youth to think of old Captain 
 Yawkins stepping canny to his ain destruction like 
 that.
 
 SMUGGLER AND KING'S MEN. 93 
 
 " So in the lee of the land under the great rise of 
 Maungold Head we lay with our topsails aback, waiting 
 for the enemy to come in and lay us alongside. 
 
 " Now, though the Captain was cursing the Max- 
 wells and their impudence, and blaming them for 
 sending the revenue men on us, it so happened that 
 it was really through them that we were preserved 
 frae the gallows for that time at least. 
 
 " Now there is no doubt whatever that had the 
 Seahorse but kenned that the preventive boat Ariel 
 was within as short a distance o' Ramsay as the ither 
 side of the Point of Ayre, she wad simply hae lain 
 still where she was and waited for her consort, 
 which wad hae compelled us to come oot and gie her 
 battle on her ain terms. But luckily for us the Ariel 
 was at that moment spanking away to the south'ard 
 on a wild goose chase after the lang-shanked Maxwell 
 lads. So we were left to fecht it oot on something 
 like equal terms. 
 
 " It was awesome to hear the captain. He never 
 stopped blasphemin'. And the curious thing about 
 the matter was that it wasna the king's men that he 
 was wild at, but the Maxwells, and more especially 
 auld Dick Maxwell that had been his partner and 
 sailed the seas with him in the days before he got the 
 brig Van Hoorn for himseP. 
 
 " He cursed him for a thief, and there was some- 
 thing aboot a brass box and a treasure, and something, 
 too, aboot a lass ; but the ower-word o' his sang was 
 juist this, 'Be the day dark or clear, the nicht star- 
 shine or pit-mirk, an' the Red Cock craw not on 
 the rooftree of Richard Maxwell by the heuchs of 
 Craigdarroch, may I turn for ever and ever frae side
 
 94 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 to side between the red coal and the brimstane flaming 
 blue ayont the bars o' muckle hell.' A dreadfu' oath 
 to speak, but he spak' it often. 
 
 " It was indeed maist fearsome to hear him. He 
 was swearin' like that a' the time, even when we 
 could see the king's ship coming through the narrows 
 at the head o' the bay and settin' in for us wi' every 
 steek o' canvas set. 
 
 " Man, she was bonny as she cam', the foam reamin' 
 white under her forefoot. The white toorock o' her 
 snow-white claiths blawin' licht an' airy frae masthead 
 to bowsprit and jib-boom-end. Then as soon as she 
 cam' roon the point she began to fire the single guns, 
 and the shot to whustle through oor riggin'. Aboot 
 this time the job o' the man at the wheel is no to be 
 recommended as a means o' livelihood, for the sharp- 
 shooters they fire at him, and gin the ship gets raked 
 fore and aft, he's the lad that kens aboot it first, for 
 they hae e'en to soop a' that's left o' him owerboard 
 wi' a besom. 
 
 " But there was no fear of any disobeying in 
 Yawkins' ship. Ye micht be killed by the enemy 
 if you obeyed ; but ye wad be killed of a certainty 
 gin ye didna, so ye micht lay your accoont wi' that. 
 
 " ' Put her about,' he cried, suddenly, and wi' that 
 ran right across the bows of the Seahorse as she came 
 swiftly, swaying with the undercarry of the sea into 
 the harbour mouth. She brought the wind with her, 
 for as she closed on us we seemed to get it as weel ; 
 and the sudden shift in our helm, instead of landing 
 us becalmed, steadied us to send a broadside doon her 
 decks and yet draw clear before she could alter her 
 course.
 
 SMUGGLER AND KING'S MEN. 95 
 
 "We were running now as if to beach the Van 
 Hoorn on the slushy sand of the southernmost bay ; 
 but in a moment, just when it seemed that we had 
 caught ourselves, ' All hands wear ship,' cried our 
 captain, and the mates gave the orders while the 
 Dutchman and I burst ourselves to bring the helm 
 sharp a-weather. Down dropped the peak, round 
 went the spars, the yards were braced, and away we 
 swung through the rising lift of the harbour bar till 
 the wind caught us as she passed the Heads, and, like 
 a sea pellock, buried her nose in the heaving smother 
 where the wind and the tide met. 
 
 " As we left the king's ship astern, old Father 
 Yawkins sprang on our taffrail, and waved his hand — 
 'Out-sailed, out-fought, out-witted — such a set of 
 kiss-my-loofs, you king's men. That's what I think 
 of ye ! Hae ! ' 
 
 " And with that he leaped down, and snatching off 
 his wig and broad, flapping hat, he crammed them 
 into the right-hand Long Tom, and with his own 
 hand shot them aboard the king's man. 
 
 " Now this insult put more anger into the heart of 
 Lieutenant Mountenay, commander of the Seahorse 
 than all the men that he lost. It was in part this 
 that caused the great eagerness which there was among 
 all the king's navy men to capture Captain Yawkins — 
 an adventure which afterwards succeeded to admiration 
 in spite of many failures. 
 
 " Sae it was even in this way that the Van Hoorn 
 ran direct north to land her cargo at the Brigghous', 
 and to burn the bonny stackyaird o' Craigdarroch." 
 
 Ebie here took breath and blew upon his reeking 
 pipe.
 
 96 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 "But what hindered the Seahorse from chasing 
 you ? " I asked him. " She could not have been 
 such a distance ahint you as to lose ye in a run 
 of less than thirty miles, and its little mair to the 
 Brigghouse ? " 
 
 " Weel, an' that's a funny thing too," said Ebie ; 
 "it is just like a play. They tell me that the verra 
 last shot that was fired — the yin that Captain Yawkins 
 fired himseP — carried awa' the halewar " (whole) "o' 
 their steerin' gear, and left them withoot poo'er to do 
 more than put down an anchor. So they tell me. I 
 kenna. But gin that be the reason, it wad seem that 
 some o' the auld man's brains had stucken to the auld 
 
 man's wig. 
 
 " Eh, sirce, but there's mony wonderfu' things in 
 the warld. 
 
 "An' my bacca's dune. Hae ye a fill aboot ye, 
 think ye ? "
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN. 
 
 Certes, but it was good hearing when we got under 
 the brow of the land and underneath the shaggy 
 shadows of the trees, to hearken the sough of the water 
 below the keel of the boat. We had Richard Maxwell 
 and his chest, and May with her bundle of sarks tied 
 in a spotted napkin. That boat was the wholesomest 
 place that I had found since I saw the red star of a 
 godless night rise over Craigdarroch. 
 
 Silver Sand rowed us back silently as we had 
 come. As we went I saw that he was not taking us 
 to the house, but down towards the sea point of 
 Rathan Island where the rocks were at their wildest 
 and the surge for ever fretted and boiled about the 
 perpendicular cliffs. 
 
 " What for are we no going to the House Bay ? " 
 I asked Silver Sand. 
 
 " Because I dinna want my throat cutted," he said. 
 " D'ye think Yawkins and his sea-thieves will no find 
 out the first thing in the grey o' the mornin' that 
 something heavy has been carried to the shore between 
 twa men, and that three men, a lassie, and a dog hae 
 
 7 97
 
 98 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 gotten intil a boat under the trees by the White 
 Horse Bay ? It's so plain to be seen that even a 
 gamewatcher could make oot as muckle ! " 
 
 "But what then? " I asked, the project not yet 
 being clear to me. 
 
 " What else ? " said he. " Sorrow am I to have 
 ocht to do wi' sic a pack of brainless loons withoot 
 contrivance or gumption. Whaur wad they look for 
 a boat to come frae but the Rathan ? Whaur wad 
 they be safe in seekin' but on the Rathan ? Hae ye 
 a regiment o' horse and foot on the Rathan ? Do the 
 officers o' King George's peace pay ye a veesit ilka 
 day ? It was on the Rathan whaur in auld days yer 
 faither set ashore mony a braw cargo, and it's on the 
 Rathan that they'll seek for us." 
 
 " Then what for are we going there ; could we no 
 make for Killantringan, or even Dumfries ? " I asked, 
 being still unsatisfied. 
 
 " Hoot awa', Laird Heron," said Silver Sand ; " ye 
 haena the heid o' yer faither ava', or ye wadna need 
 to hae so many questions answered. Gin we gaed to 
 Killantringan, we wadna be a bit safer than we are 
 here. The hill outlawry could a' catch us or ever 
 we wan twa mile if we had to carry this bit boxie. 
 And as for Dumfries, it wad be as feasible to try the 
 moon. There's but twa roads that I ken to Dumfries 
 — yin alang the shore, and we hae nae horses bena " 
 (except) "my cuddy and wee Donald, and the ither 
 road by the channel o' the Nith Water, and it's a braw 
 wark we wad mak' racin' wi' the Van Hoorn, or even 
 wi' her pinnace, that won the race at Rotterdam frae 
 the crews o' a' the Dutch men-o'-war." 
 
 " Then there's nothing for it but the cave," I said. 

 
 THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN. 99 
 
 Silver Sand pretended a great admiration of my 
 talent and perspicuity. 
 
 " Preserve us a', Paitrick, but ye mauna pit sic a 
 strain on yer uptak. It's no human to understand 
 a' that ! Aye, as ye say, it's the cave, and nocht else 
 but the cave." 
 
 " But what's to come of the house of Rathan ? " 
 I asked, for though I was willing enough to take part 
 in the quarrel of the Maxwells, now that I was in for 
 it, I did not want all my earthly possessions burned 
 within half a mile of me without doing my best to 
 save them. 
 
 " Ye'll e'en hae to trust the hoose to me and 
 Quharrie," said Silver Sand, still drolling. "Ye'll 
 find that we are none so stupid watchers." 
 
 The night was already turning to bright yellow 
 low on the west, and the red glow of the dying fire 
 at Craigdarroch lay in a low "skarrow" of lurid light 
 on the water, as we began to draw near to the sea 
 caves at the foot of Rathan Island. There were many 
 tales about these caves. They were miles long, 
 according to the ignorant. They were inhabited by 
 the most terrible of sea beasts, by mermen and sea- 
 lions of fearsome presence and exceeding ferocity. 
 
 But of a truth they were rather pleasant places as 
 caves go. Of one of them especially I was fond, for 
 not only had it a sea entrance wide and high, which 
 made it safe to enter by boat, but after one had 
 penetrated a long way through passages and halls, 
 mounting ever upward, he came to a space of clear 
 yellow sand, from which there was an opening to the 
 sea, for all the world like the window in a house high 
 up above the doorway.
 
 ioo THE RAIDERS. 
 
 The cave entrance beneath was, as it were, the 
 door of the house, and within it the tides for ever 
 surged and swirled, while the window at the top 
 looked out to sea midway down the cliff, where not 
 even the samphire gatherer could come nor yet the 
 sea eagle build her nest. 
 
 This was the Great Rathan Cave, and it was into 
 this cave that Silver Sand conveyed his boatload. 
 
 The wild outcry of the gulls and gannets on the 
 rocks struck us very strangely coming from the night 
 quiet of the moors. May Maxwell had been very 
 silent, as one might well be who has lost her all 
 and sees herself in the midst of blood and threatenings. 
 But the pleasant break of morn and the cheerful 
 nature of our surroundings seemed to awake a kind 
 of interest in her. 
 
 The lower end of Rathan Isle toward the sea is 
 almost separate from the rest, and is called the South 
 Stack. 
 
 South of this again was an isle, or rather a high 
 single rock, whereon the sea-birds built. We left 
 this isle of rock to our right hand as we passed into 
 the entrance of the Great Cave of Rathan. And as 
 we went by, the cloud of gulls rose with astonishing 
 clamour, their many wings making a melodious 
 thunder of flappings like the beating of innumerable 
 sails when a ship stands shivering in the eye of the 
 breeze. 
 
 There was a clear, brisk air, but the night dew had 
 left a sticky " glet " on the face and hands. A black 
 diver ran hither and thither and tried to make away 
 with his life by staying under water long enough to 
 drown himself; which it is indeed a wonder that I
 
 THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN. 101 
 
 took notice of, save that I have ever minded my father's 
 precept — " Mind a' that ye see, but forget a' that folk 
 say aboot ye ! " There are not many wiser obser- 
 vations than that to be got for nothing. 
 
 High up among the rocks a couple of ravens looked 
 sneeringly and overbearingly down from the edge of 
 their nest, and barked hoarsely at us as we went by. 
 They had been watching all night with joy the burn- 
 ing of the decent folks' house, for that is the nature of 
 the corbie. 
 
 " Glock ! Glock ! Glock ! " they cried at us, as they 
 do in the saga tales of the Northmen when the heroes 
 are lying on the field of blood. 
 
 Now these caves of the Solway are in a different 
 rock to that which goes along the greater part of the 
 seaboard. There comes in here and there a softer 
 rock, of the nature of a freestone, which the water 
 makes great play to excavate. 
 
 I would that I could take you to see these wonder- 
 ful spurs and arches that have been cut out of the 
 rock by the genius of the water. There are many 
 sorts of caves there, and in them I used to play many 
 a day by the length on the Isle Rathan. There was 
 the Great Cave, that might have housed a thousand 
 men in its depths, yet which ten could have defended 
 against any number who knew not its ways and out- 
 lets. In it there was the outlook to the sea, and the 
 hall which I called the Hall of Ossian. 
 
 The most part of these caves are sea caverns as on 
 the coast of Antrim in Ireland, which is the only 
 other place where I have seen these resounding halls 
 of native rock, with the green water booming solemnly 
 into them, and the sough of their roaring carried far
 
 ioz THE RAIDERS. 
 
 along the coast. Some of these are deep, dark dens, 
 accursed and gloomy, in which the tide sways blindly 
 at all times, horrible to look upon from the sea, show- 
 ing cruel teeth like an old wolf-dog that has drawn up 
 its lip so that one may see the broken fangs and the 
 cavernous dark behind. The dank, clammy air is 
 compressed by the tide. A horrible ooze clings to 
 every part of the rock, as though ugsome things, slimy 
 worms from the sea-bottom, had overcrawled it all. 
 Tkere were on Rathan many caves and those of all 
 sorts. But most I loved the tiny cavelets in the White 
 Sand coves, where the waves of a sheltered sea beat 
 all day, lisping and lapping with a pleasant sound. 
 There, on warm days, it was my habit to lie even 
 mother naked, half in and half out of the water, the 
 whole isle being so lonely. 
 
 We now drew quickly from under the frowning 
 face of the South Stack. 
 
 As Silver Sand brought the boat near to the Great 
 Cave, the entrance rose so high above us, and the 
 swaying of the waves in the mouth of it was so grand, 
 that I felt proud of the Isle Rathan, and as glad that 
 I possessed it as if I had made it myself. 
 
 Silver Sand, indeed, never glanced either aloft or 
 alow. But then he had no need, having a circle of 
 eyes all about his head. Richard Maxwell seemed to 
 be muttering curses on his foes ; and, by the jerking 
 of his eyebrows and the twitching movement of his 
 lips, I judged that he had fixed them severally in 
 a locality where they would certainly have found 
 pleasure in the cold salt water that sobbed and heaved 
 into the cavern. 
 
 But May Maxwell, out of whom the mischief had
 
 THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN. 103 
 
 died, glanced more than once up to the frowning 
 portals, which opened for us like that water gate I have 
 read of into the White Tower in London town, by 
 which go in the traitors who come no more out. 
 But she said no word. 
 
 Now the upper arch of the cave is not less than 
 forty feet above the floor of uneasy water, and the 
 sea entrance beneath is but three times the breadth 
 of a boat. The cliffs rise so high above that seen from 
 beneath, they hold up the sky as on pillars. As we 
 steered our way carefully into the mouth of the cave, 
 we passed through floating balls of sea-spume so large 
 that the prow of the boat was whitened with them. 
 I have often taken them in my hands, chasing them, 
 as puppies do, along the shore when the wind comes 
 in off" the sea. 
 
 The rock is infinitely worn all about into a myriad 
 holes and crevices, in which are sea-pinks with dry, 
 flaky heads. I saw tansy also far above, yellow like 
 fire, and on the sheltered crannies, where a little earth 
 collects and the birds leave castings, there was some 
 parched sea-grass, and I think that I caught the pale- 
 blue glint of the sea-holly — a favourite plant of mine. 
 I remember that I thought it early for it to bloom, 
 and my mind ran on climbing to get a piece for May 
 Mischief. This, too, in the midst of infinitely graver 
 things to think about. 
 
 Ouharrie sat beside May Maxwell in the boat 
 with his paws on the seat, heaving his head aloft and 
 sniffing in an uncertain fashion, as if his experience, 
 though a wide one, did not include sea caves. 
 
 May Maxwell settled her shawl closer about her as 
 we drew away from the wholesome light of day, and
 
 104 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the greenish glimmer grew about us. It made my 
 heart waver to and fro within me like a sunbeam in 
 a basin of water, tingling and quivering, when she laid 
 a little hand on my arm. It was but that she trembled 
 as a maid will, for it was a cold hand, and it shook. 
 But it made the last remnant of my dislike flee away. 
 Nor do I think now, looking back, that I ever disliked 
 her greatly. In my heart of hearts I aye liked her — 
 not that ill even when she pursed her mouth and cried 
 « Baa ! " 
 
 It was sweetest, perhaps, when out of the depths of 
 the great cave burst a clamorous cloud of rock pigeons. 
 As we entered we could hear their voices peep-peeping 
 and chunnering to their young, some of the old cock- 
 birds meanwhile roo-hooing on the higher ledges with a 
 sound wonderfully varied and pleasant. There were 
 also at the entrance a few solitary maids and bachelors 
 sitting in the clefts sunning themselves with drooping 
 wings, like barndoor hens in the dust. Some were 
 preening their feathers, the sheen on their necks being 
 the redder because at that moment the sun was rising. 
 
 When the boat got well within the cave, where the 
 narrows of the passage open into the wide Hall of 
 Ossian (so we called it), the boat ground harshly on 
 the sand and shingle. At this the doves took instant 
 alarm, and with a startling whirr and clang they 
 swooped down on us in a perfect cloud, their shining 
 breasts extraordinarily near us, so that the wind came 
 in our faces as the living stream poured out of the 
 narrow and fetid darkness of the cave into the splendid 
 sunshine of the young morning. 
 
 Then it was that May Maxwell cried aloud, as a 
 lass well might. Indeed the clamour startled even me
 
 THE GREAT CAVE OF ISLE RATHAN. 105 
 
 that was well accustomed to it, let alone a young lass 
 that had seen her home burnt over her head that 
 night. There was no shame or wonder in it. Nor 
 is there any need that I should write about it, except 
 that I could not just hear what name it was that she 
 cried out. But I had hopes that I knew.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 MORNING IN THE CAVE. 
 
 The entrance was indeed the grandest part of our 
 cave. It was not very wonderful inside — a way that 
 caves have. There was this dark hall of sand and 
 pebbles, in which the water broke either at the end of 
 the long sea passage or half-way up the incline of the 
 floor, according to the state of the tide. But except 
 for purposes of landing or defence we never stayed 
 long in this dank and cold place, but climbed directly 
 up to the little chamber, which might have been the 
 cave of an anchorite, so comfortable was it in all 
 weathers, save only when a heavy wind blew in 
 straight from the south, when the large window 
 faced the gale. But mercifully during the time we 
 spent there the airs were fairly still, and we only 
 heard the swell sobbing and swishing along the edges 
 of the rocks far beneath us. 
 
 So at last we mounted through the dank and drip- 
 ping passages, which indeed did not seem long, I 
 carrying May Maxwell's parcels and guiding her. But 
 it was pleasant to emerge opposite the window into the 
 sunlight of the early morning upon the sea, coming 
 
 1 06
 
 MORNING IN THE CAVE. 107 
 
 across from Satterness and turning the cold, white 
 crests of the chilly indigo waves to a rosy colour. 
 I took pleasure in leading her to the window, which 
 was of a shape nearly oblong, with sea-rockets and 
 stonecrop growing about it. I shall always consider 
 it as a special providence that, upon my looking past 
 the end of the ledge, I saw growing in the cleft a 
 little sod of heather, and in the midst of it, early for 
 the season and the Solway shore, a few waxen lobes of 
 bell-heath, perfectly white. So holding her still by 
 the hand, lest the sudden coming into the light might 
 cause a giddiness, I laid down her bundle, and, pulling 
 the white, waxen bells, I presented them to her with 
 all the courtesy of which I was the master. This she 
 took not amiss, for she looked at me with eyes that 
 were full of tears, and said, speaking not at all in her 
 former way — 
 
 " Thank you, Patrick ; what makes you so mindful 
 of me ? I dinna deserve it." 
 
 I meant here to have said something exceedingly 
 fine and appropriate, but all that I could get out was 
 just, " Aye, but ye do ! " 
 
 And even that I stammered. However, I am not 
 sure that I could much have bettered it after a week's 
 consideration. 
 
 So in the early morning we sat and looked away 
 over the sea. The air was still caller, but the sun 
 had already taken the chill off. The sea was like a 
 painted cloth hung up before us, so high were we 
 above the water — a cloth on which the ships and 
 boats were drawn prettily one above the other. 
 
 The natural window at which we sat was oblong, 
 as I have said — that is, not so high as it was broad —
 
 io8 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 and there was a stone shelf before it, whether made 
 by man's hands, I know not. 
 
 " It is very quiet and peaceful here," May said j but 
 Richard, her father, said nothing. I think he hardly 
 saw where he was being taken. He had lived at 
 Craigdarroch all his life save when he was on the 
 seas, having indeed been born there. It went hard 
 with him to lose it all in a single night. 
 
 Thinking of what May said now, it strikes me 
 that to look through a high, narrow window at a 
 landskip framed in it gives one an impression of 
 surprise, as though the outlook were upon an un- 
 known country ; while, on the other hand, to look 
 upon the same scene from a broad window, as we did 
 now, makes one think of still Sabbath mornings and 
 the bees humming among the clover. 
 
 "As peaceful," May continued, "as though there 
 were no wicked men in the world." 
 
 This time now seems to me so strange and peaceful 
 — the thunder-slumber before the storm breaks and 
 the lightning flares. 
 
 She shuddered slightly, for I knew afterwards that at 
 Craigdarroch Hector Faa himself would have laid a hand 
 upon her, but that she had broken from him, fleeing 
 hot-foot into the wood. Hector Faa it was who, out- 
 cast with all his tribe from sweet Yethom, had sent a 
 message to Richard Maxwell that he was coming to 
 the low country for a wife, according to the custom of 
 his tribe. For he and his mother made it their boast 
 that never had a Faa bride been led home save with 
 her hands tied behind her back. This was Faa 
 custom, and that, among these wild gypsy clans, made 
 it sacred. The Faa blood was so high that it could
 
 MORNING IN THE CAVE. 109 
 
 absorb and cause to return to itself all poorer fluids. 
 So Black Hector, who was the brother of John Faa 
 himself, was but doing the bidding of his mother, as 
 well as following his own inclination, when he sent 
 this message to Craigdarroch. His mother had proved 
 the way of the clan and become more Faa than the 
 Faas themselves, as they say all these abducted gypsy 
 wives do become. 
 
 The curse that Richard Maxwell sent back is re- 
 membered yet in the hill country, and his descendants 
 mention it with a kind of pride. It was considered 
 as fine a thing as the old man ever did since he dropped 
 profane swearing and took to anathemas from the 
 Psalms — which served just as well. 
 
 The answer that came back was short and sweet. 
 
 " Tell the auld carle at Craigdarroch," Black Hector 
 sent his message, " that I'll hae the lass in spite of 
 him and the seven braw brithers." 
 
 And so it is likely that he would, had it not been 
 for one that was no brother of May Maxwell's. 
 
 Once we were safe within the cave, Silver Sand 
 went away with Quharrie, taking the boat with 
 him, and leaving us shut in without a chance of 
 escape, if so be the Black Smugglers followed us 
 swiftly to the Stacks of the Isle Rathan. But I 
 had my pistols, and now looked well to the priming, 
 and with some ostentation also to the condition of 
 the locks, for indeed I took no small pride in my 
 marksmanship. As a boy I had set a stone on the 
 dyke and knocked it over with another at thirty 
 yards' distance, four times out of five. In later 
 days, since my friends came to reside on the isle with 
 me, I constantly used a pebble as an argument.
 
 no THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Indeed there were few places about the Isle Rathan 
 from which I could not reach an erring youth with 
 pebble cunningly " henched." Then with pistols 
 Andrew Allison and I had practised a great deal since 
 he came, and it was with some pride I considered 
 that a smuggler, great or small, would have little 
 chance with me at twenty yards. I had also skill of 
 the claymore and small sword, for my father had 
 taught me these in the wet days of winter, keeping 
 me at it till my limbs ached and my back was like to 
 break. 
 
 It was not long before Silver Sand fetched back 
 his boatload of provender from the house. He 
 brought with him Jerry MacWhirter alone of all our 
 reinforcements, with the news that in the morning the 
 father of the Allison lads had appeared with two stout 
 apprentices and a very large whip, and had driven the 
 three boys — Andrew, John, and Rab Nicoll — before 
 him to his boat. Jerry had stood meanwhile on the 
 cliff above, and, according to his own account, had 
 exhorted their father to lay on them soundly. Which 
 I have small doubt that he did. 
 
 It was a loss, but one I was not sorry for. There 
 was the less responsibility were the smugglers to come, 
 for Jerry was of age to decide for himself as to his 
 movements, and, besides, he had never been under 
 control in his life. He would give us no anxiety, and 
 also make us often merry. I think we were all more 
 cheerful and hopeful as soon as he came among us. 
 
 But Silver Sand brought also another passenger, a 
 bare-footed, barearmed lass, blowsed and freckled, with 
 arms and legs like those of a man. 
 
 " This is a lass," he said, as soon as he came in,
 
 MORNING IN THE CAVE. in 
 
 " that I fand chappin' at Rathan front door, which is 
 not a very fitting thing. So I fetched her wi' me. 
 She can speak for herseP. She disna' appear to be 
 troubled wi' blateness." 
 
 As soon as May Maxwell saw her she got up off 
 the stone shelf by the window and ran to her — glad- 
 like, as you have seen a bairn among grown folk do 
 when another child comes in. 
 
 " Faither," she cried, "d'ye no see this is Bell 
 MacTurk ? " 
 
 " Aye," said the old man, " I see that ! " 
 
 But apparently the sight did not do him much good, 
 for he sank again into a morose silence. 
 
 " Bell," said Mary, " shake hands wi' Maister Patrick 
 Heron this minute, for ye're on his Isle of Rathan — or, 
 rather, in it — an' gye far ben too ! " 
 
 Bell came forward and shook hands. 
 
 "Laird or no laird," said she, "ye micht hae as 
 muckle sense as to gie a bonny lass a salutation. 
 
 Mary Maxwell laughed. 
 
 "Oh, Bell, Bell," she said, "is this a day for your 
 damn ? " 
 
 " Hoot, awa' wi' ye, Mistress May. It's no ilka 
 day Bell MacTurk gets the chance o' a bit cheep frae 
 a laird ! An' what for should ye greet ? There's 
 some gear an' plenishin' brunt, and the thack's aff the 
 byre, and the stackyaird's empty ; but there's them 
 comin' hame that will big it a' up again, and pit 
 a bigger harvest than ever under thack an' rape. For 
 there was no end to the wickedness o' that crew o' 
 Black Smugglers and robbers. But noo the hale 
 country will rise again them, and there will be an 
 end to them."
 
 ii2 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 While she was speaking thus Richard Maxwell 
 looked at her from under his hoary eyebrows. There 
 was a grey pallor about his countenance that did not 
 look bonny in the full light of the morning as it came 
 into the cave, for the sun had now worn round so that 
 it shone upon the face of the cliff. 
 
 " Aye, lass," he exclaimed, rising to his feet, " these 
 are words wise beyond your years. They shall be rooted 
 out, for the destruction o' the bonny onstead that has 
 been hame to me and that reared my bairns. This I 
 swear and declare before the Almighty." 
 
 " Noo, sit doon, faither," said May, anxiously, 
 " dinna walk aboot, ye are no minding your feet, and 
 ye micht faa' doon oot ower the heuch. Forbye ye 
 are pittin' them that's helpin' you so kindly into danger 
 with the loud sound of your voice." 
 
 The old man sat down without another word, and 
 wrapt himself again in his gloomy reflections. But all 
 the rest of us were visibly cheered by the advent of 
 Jerry and Bell, as well as by the food which they had 
 brought from the house. The only sore thing that lay 
 on my heart was the thought of my own Rathan house, 
 which was my all, lying vacant and open to the crew 
 that had burned Richard Maxwell's onstead and all his 
 gear. 
 
 But Silver Sand relieved some part of my anxiety 
 by declaring that he meant to remain outside, and be 
 at once scout and watchman. 
 
 " The house is perfectly safe in my hands. I'll set 
 Ouharrie to watch it," he said, " and the smuggler 
 doesna wear tarry breeks that will come near it when 
 Quharrie is lookin' after it." 
 
 So it was arranged that if the waterway should be
 
 MORNING IN THE CAVE. 113 
 
 shut Silver Sand was to lower any message or package 
 for us over the cliff in such a manner that it would 
 swing opposite the window — a plan which was after- 
 wards carried out with complete success. 
 
 For all that I thought it strange that Silver Sand 
 should take no part in the real warfare against the out- 
 laws, while giving us other help of every kind.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 
 
 But our content and mirth were of short duration, for 
 we were to hear from the enemy in a very sudden 
 and surprising manner. How Yawkins got track of 
 us to this day remains a mystery. Not even Ebie 
 Hook, to whom I owe the solution of so many things, 
 can unravel this, for he was not present at the 
 attack, being one of the watch who remained on the 
 Van Hoorn by order of Captain Yawkins. 
 
 It is likely that one of the lookout upon the main- 
 land saw us go into the cave, or noted Silver Sand's 
 return from the house with his load. 
 
 At least, certain it is that it had not passed nine 
 o'clock of the morning, before the Van Hoorn, having 
 embarked those of her crew who had joined with the 
 gypsies in destroying the homestead of Craigdarroch, 
 bore up to the south of Isle Rathan under easy sail. 
 When she came abreast of the entrance of the cave 
 a puff of white smoke rose from her side, and a great 
 round shot came plumping into the mouth of the 
 cavern, breaking away a fragment from the cliff, 
 which plunged like thunder into the deep water of the 
 entrance. Myriads of chips flew every way, but not 
 
 "4
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 115 
 
 so much as a feather-weight of dust reached the great 
 centre hold called Ossian's Hall, where only the 
 echoes reverberated, and the swells raised by the round 
 shot and the fall of the great fragment came rolling up 
 to our feet in an arching wall of green water crested 
 with white. 
 
 From our secret watch-tower window on the face 
 of the cliff we could see the brig hanging in the wind 
 to give her stern chasers another chance. I therefore 
 judged it wise to send May Maxwell and Bell into 
 the little passage at the back, where even in the event 
 of a ball striking through the window of our retreat, 
 they might be tolerably safe. 
 
 As soon as the noise raised by the second round shot 
 died away — it struck the cliff without doing any harm 
 — we saw two boatloads of men from the brig putting 
 off with the evident intention of attacking us. The 
 Fan Hoorn, so far as appeared from her deck, had been 
 firing uselessly at a vast hole in the sea cliff. Even 
 so the men at quarters on board of her regarded it ; 
 and some of them muttered to one another that it had 
 been better to have 'bouted ship and borne away with 
 what plunder they had before the king's ships came up 
 with them. But the captain, it is said, had private 
 information of the chest which Richard Maxwell had 
 carried away, and cared for no other part of the spoil. 
 At any rate he resolved to try the entrance of the 
 cave, having little doubt that so large a force would be 
 able immediately to subdue our weak defence, which 
 must have appeared still more feeble to him who knew 
 not the strength of our position. 
 
 Now there was nothing very wonderful about the 
 cavern in which we were concealed. It consisted
 
 u6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 simply of a sea entrance practicable for boats, and a 
 cliff entrance practicable only for gulls and pigeons. 
 The passage between the two chambers was narrow, 
 but with many turns and twistings, having small 
 chambers and one or two side ways which returned 
 back upon the main one. At the bottom of this 
 natural winding stair there was the large hall which 
 we called Ossian's Hall, where was the end of the sea 
 passage and where the swell broke upon a beach of 
 shingle and sand. 
 
 Now there was no foothold for any along the cliffs 
 that lined the sea edge, so steep, black, and slippery 
 were they. You may find the cave of which I speak, 
 the second on the right hand in sailing along Rathan, 
 between the South Stack of Rathan, and the east 
 point that looks to Killantringan and Satterness. 
 Indeed, the entrance is so wide that you cannot 
 miss it. 
 
 The arched cliff that is called the Needle's E'e is 
 within fifty feet of it, and the reverse suction of the 
 sea pouring out of the Great Cave of Rathan sets 
 through the Needle's E'e in a jumping jabble at every 
 turn of the tide. It is thus easily found. The only 
 caution is that it must not be mistaken for the Calo- 
 man Cave, or Pit of Pigeons (as the word means in 
 the Pictish speech of ancient Galloway), which has its 
 entrance high among the rocks and allows no oppor- 
 tunity for the breaching of the sea waves. So that by 
 going to the place it is easy to prove the exact truth 
 of this history. This I say at length lest any should 
 think that the cave is some wonderful thing. For 
 the glosing of the common people has raised a great 
 number of legends in the countryside — as that when
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 117 
 
 we were besieged in this cave by the Black Smugglers 
 we escaped inland by the space of three or four miles 
 and came out by an underground passage at the Old 
 Pict's Tower of Orchardton, with other stories that 
 have no truth in them. Indeed the whole cavern, as 
 it was known to us, did not extend more than two 
 hundred yards in all its turns and windings, entrances 
 and passages. So much, then, for our situation. A 
 word concerning our dispositions for defence. 
 
 We had plenty of arms and ammunition, and, 
 speaking for myself, a kind of gladness in the fray 
 that I am sure I should not have had in the open 
 country where a hundred might fire at you from all 
 sides. I thought it better that Richard Maxwell, 
 Jerry, and myself should go down to the great hall 
 called Ossian's, and by getting as far out into the 
 passage as possible, kneeling upon ledges and jutting 
 rocks, be ready to beat back our assailants as they 
 entered. 
 
 There was, indeed, about thirty feet from the Hall 
 of Ossian a kind of platform on which two of us could 
 stand. This commanded the entrance, and from it 
 we could see the wide span of the outer arch and the 
 rock-doves flitting to and fro in the sunshine. May 
 Maxwell came with us to help in loading the guns — 
 in which she was exceedingly expert, having been 
 trained to the way of it by her brothers when they 
 went shooting at birds or at the mark, which latter 
 they often practised on wet days or in the dull winter 
 season. 
 
 Bell remained in the chamber over the gate, both 
 to give us intelligence of the approach of the enemy 
 and also to receive any message from Silver Sand on the
 
 n8 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 cliff" above, which he might swing downwards in the 
 way indicated. We had hardly gone to our quarters 
 before one such message did reach us. It was wrapped 
 about a stone and tied with withes. This ball swung 
 clear of the cliff", so that Bell had to take the cleps (or 
 crooked links which were used for hanging the 
 porridge pot upon the wooden crossbar of our cave 
 fireplace), in order to draw it in — an action which, 
 had the smugglers been on the lookout might have 
 proved dangerous to herself and hurtful to our 
 interests. 
 
 But in a trice she had detached the stone and brought 
 me down Silver Sand's message, which said in correct 
 enough English but in a curious ancient hand and 
 without punctuations — 
 
 "It is the Chest they want and the Lass 
 the House is safe enough Fire at the Gypsies 
 
 THEY ARE THE DEYVILS THE TARRY BrEEKS HAVE 
 
 no heart in the matter your obliged 
 ServT Silver Sand." 
 
 With this we had to be content. Of one thing I 
 was well convinced, that Silver Sand would be of 
 greater service free and aboveground than down with 
 us in the sea cave. So that we were all in good 
 heart, and that more especially when Bell came down 
 with the letter and served us with a little heartening 
 of the Dutch sort out of a square, wide-mouthed case 
 bottle, scandalously overserving Jerry because he was 
 a favourite of her own — which she thought that I did 
 not notice ; as indeed I did, and that carefully ; and 
 besides, these things are not good for boys. 
 
 So we went to our posts to be ready, for the boats 
 were approaching. From the vantage ground of the
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 119 
 
 window in the cliff we could note their numbers and 
 bearing. There were about twenty of them in two 
 boats. The most part were no sailors, but wild 
 fellows from the hills, bonnetless and unkempt. 
 Yawkins himself was in one boat and Hector Faa 
 in the stern sheets of the other, monstrously fine in 
 a buff coat and a shirt with lace upon it, both of 
 which he had taken from the house of Richard 
 Maxwell at the burning of Craigdarroch. 
 
 When I told this to Mav Maxwell she ran her 
 
 J 
 
 ways up to take a peep at the window, and came down 
 main angered, saying, " That is the sark that I got 
 ready for my faither to gang to Staneykirk Sacrament 
 in, and to think that that regairdless loon should wear 
 it upon his back !" 
 
 "Deil scoup wi' him," cried Bell, "an' I turned it 
 and bleached it on the green an' sprinkled spring 
 water frae the well upon it." 
 
 "Load the muskets, May," said I. "It's sma' use 
 cavillin' aboot the man rinnin' awa' wi' yer faither's 
 sark, when he wants to rin awa' wi' you ycrsel'." 
 
 But she did not somehow seem to think that this 
 last was nearly so heinous a crime as wearing her 
 father's shirt on his dirty caird's back. 
 
 "It took me two hours to do the ruffles," she said. 
 It is a strange thing, but this kind of foolish care for 
 a trifle made me almost angry. 
 
 "Maybes ye wadna hae been so very vcxt gin he had 
 run aff wi' ye ! " I said, with as ill-natured an expression 
 as I could compass, for such superfine care for her 
 father's ruffles was beyond me at such a time. 
 
 "I wadna wonder," says she; "it's weel that some 
 folk in the world think something o' me."
 
 i2o THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Even a broken land-loupin' Cheat-the-wuddy 
 (gallows bird) like Hector Faa ! " 
 
 " Aye," says she, " him better than naebody ! " 
 
 At this moment came the roar of the third shot 
 from the brig. She was firing again into the cave, 
 and the shot, being aimed low, came skipping in, 
 rebounding from side to side of the cavern and filling 
 the long sea passage with dust and the clamour of 
 echoes. But it did no harm, for the first time it 
 touched the roof it rebounded and plumped to the 
 bottom where, without doubt, it lies to this day to 
 prove my story. 
 
 Upon this Jerry cried, " I am going up to see what 
 they are doing. I have a biscuit up there I would like 
 to toss them for their breakfast." 
 
 " Come back to your post, ye wull cat," I shouted 
 after him. " Gin ye run ony o' your rigs at sic a time 
 I'll break the back o' ye!" 
 
 Now I knew how he must have angered his mother 
 and relations, and for the first time I had some sympathy 
 with them and their overfree use of the birch rod. 
 
 " I'll be back the noo ! " he cried, far up the passage. 
 
 I could only girn my teeth at him and go over in 
 my own mind what I would give him when I got him 
 quietly by himself for all this. Then the first musket- 
 shot went off outside. 
 
 There was a crash and a loud yell. 
 
 " That will be Jerry's biscuit ! " said May Maxwell, 
 who knew something of his intentions, having heard 
 Bell and him talk together. Now there was evidently 
 wild work at the outer gate of the cave ; though being 
 in the dark far back and standing to our posts with 
 our muskets ready, we could see nothing. Yet we
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 121 
 
 could hear shoutings, cursings, blasphemings, and 
 multitudinous squatterings in the water as of a 
 thousand wounded wild ducks. 
 
 "They've sunk the boat, blood them !" cried some 
 one, hoarsely. 
 
 " Let us on board, Yawkins ! " cried another. 
 
 "We've ower mony here already; shift for your- 
 selves ! " was the answer. Then came a burst of 
 swearing and more of the squattering. 
 
 " Back her ! Back her ! " cried the strong voice of 
 Yawkins. " Keep the rascals off wi' your boathooks ; 
 here comes another stone." 
 
 There was another resounding splash, and a loud, 
 universal " Ah ! " 
 
 Then a cry of " Into the cave mouth, lads, and ye'll 
 be oot o' the reach of the stanes ! " 
 
 I could have bitten my thumbs that I had not 
 thought of this plan before. I was indeed, as Mistress 
 MacWhirter had said, "a bonny general." 
 
 I was also angry with Jerry for being quicker in the 
 wits than I. It turned out, however, that the plan 
 was May Mischief's, communicated first to Bell and 
 afterwards assisted in and carried to success by Jerry 
 and Bell together. 
 
 All this was indeed mighty fortunate for us, for the 
 first great stone descending fifty feet sheer, drove a 
 hole in the leading boat — that of Hector Faa — and in a 
 moment he and all his ragged regiment were struggling 
 in the water. They scrambled upon the rocks, however, 
 swimming with one hand and holding their matchlocks 
 above their heads with the other, for that is the manner 
 they use in swimming across the narrows of Loch 
 Enoch and Loch Neldricken in their home country.
 
 122 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 But the swell and jabble of the sea water was 
 puzzling to them, and many of them got their tinder 
 wet as well as their powder ; so that their pieces were 
 no use to them, which was presently a most fortunate 
 thing for us in the cave. 
 
 In a trice we could see them against the light 
 climbing and crawling like wild cats of the hills, as 
 indeed they were, on the knobs and ragged edges or 
 the sea entrance. 
 
 We could also hear the grating of the oars of the 
 boat against the sides of the cave as they scraped along, 
 and the voice of Yawkins ordering his men to take 
 their oars out of the rullocks and push the boat along 
 by hand. Then came a splatter of musketry up the 
 passage, and May Maxwell cried out in a way that 
 went to my heart. 
 
 In an instant both her father and I set our Queen 
 Anne muskets to our shoulders and fired. This 
 stopped the boat, for one of the smugglers dropped 
 forward, and falling among the feet of the others 
 grievously impeded them with his moaning and catch- 
 ing at them as they trod upon him. 
 
 Some of them cried " Back ! " and some " Have 
 at them ! " So there was a great confusion among 
 them. I did not fire again, hoping that there might 
 not be need for any more bloodshed. But Richard 
 Maxwell was not at all of my mind, for right nimbly 
 he climbed down with the discharged pieces and ran 
 up again with the loaded ones which his daughter 
 had prepared for him. He took not the slightest 
 notice when she cried out, for as soon as he had fired 
 his first shot he broke out into a great rapture of 
 singing. This was his song : —
 
 THE DEFENCE OF THE CAVE. 123 
 
 " There arrows of the bow He brake, 
 The shield, the sword, the war; 
 More glorious Thou than hills of prey, 
 More excellent art far. 
 
 " Those that were stout of heart are spoil'd, 
 They slept their sleep outright, 
 And none of those their hands did find, 
 That were the men of might." 
 
 It was wonderful with what vigour the old man 
 sang this psalm, never for a moment stopping his 
 musketry practice, and at the end of every verse 
 dropping a deadly shot among his enemies. 
 
 The boat's crew soon had their bellyfull of fighting 
 in the dark, and were now only anxious to get oft 
 with whole skins. Some of them lay down in the 
 bottom of the boat, while others stood up and fired 
 into the darkness of the cave ; but except that a 
 pigeon or two fell flapping and struggling into the 
 water no one was a penny-piece the worse, for 
 May Maxwell's cry was only a sudden exclamation 
 at the crack of the musket, though it had sounded to 
 me so exceedingly lamentable. 
 
 The boat backed out, narrowly escaping another or 
 jerry's dangerous biscuits, and in a little while we 
 heard the noise of shooting above us, which made me 
 fear that the gypsies had found means to scramble 
 down the cliff. It was no more, however, than Jerry 
 trying his hand at the gun, for in a little Bell came 
 flying down in a high state of excitement for more 
 ammunition, crying, " We dowsed them a'. Hector 
 Faa gat his bonny French coat drookit." And this 
 seemed to her somehow the cream of the jest. 
 
 Our cave, which was shaped much like a tadpole,
 
 124 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 with a very wide head and a very long body, was full 
 of the white smoor of gunpowder smoke, so that we 
 could not see those we were firing at. But Richard 
 Maxwell continued to discharge his gun as often as he 
 could get it loaded, bitterly winging each shot with 
 double powder and a text of Scripture. 
 
 Presently another great gun went off from the 
 Van Hoorn, but there was no lead or iron in it this 
 time. It was the signal of recall, and in a few 
 minutes the single boat's crew which remained was 
 taken on board, and the brig stood away to the south ; 
 and that not a moment too soon ; for the outsailed 
 Seahorse and the deceived Ariel had forgathered off 
 the Isle of Man and were speeding north to hem the 
 Black Smuggler into the blind alley of the estuary of 
 the Solway. 
 
 Now, though Yawkins was no doubt eager for 
 revenge, and still more eager for the brass-bound box 
 which Richard Maxwell carried with him so carefully, 
 he had too great a respect for his neck to risk hanging 
 on the bare chance of either. He ran, therefore, 
 towards the entrance of Wigton Bay to turn the point 
 before the slower king's ships could trap him, whence 
 he held south to escape for this time. His day was 
 not come. But the shadow ship was following hard 
 after, and the Fate that grips by land and sea, but most 
 surely and completely by sea, waited to lay the final 
 arrestment upon him, and on Leith Sands she hove 
 him to. Where to this day he stays.
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE HILL GYPSIES. 
 
 Then for some hours we had peace. 
 
 As Silver Sand had foretold, there was little heart 
 for the onset among the " Tarry breeks ! " They 
 fought best on sea. But the gypsies of the hills, 
 accustomed to the crags and caves, the screes and 
 precipices of the Dungeon, were quite other adversaries. 
 
 Since that day the countryside has settled down so 
 
 fast that it is hard to realise that but a few years 
 
 takes us back to the time when the Marshalls and 
 
 Macatericks levied mail and drave cattle from half the 
 
 land of Galloway. Many of them were gypsies pur 
 
 sang, as Faa himself, and Marshall — the Faas indeed, 
 
 though expelled from the Border country, accounting 
 
 themselves above the Stuarts or Douglases, or any 
 
 other name in ancient dignity. In which I do think 
 
 honestly that they have the right of it ; but whether 
 
 the blood be improved in quality by this long descent 
 
 through cattle-thieves and wizards is a moot point. 
 
 But Hector Faa was a little above the chicken-coop 
 
 thief, and confined himself to maids of the Lowland 
 
 and droves of cattle from anywhere ; and as for the 
 
 lost John Faa himself, did he not still hold King 
 
 125
 
 iz6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 James' patent of nobility, and belt himself with 
 justice and full heraldic right " Lord and Earl of 
 Little Egypt " ? 
 
 The greater part of these tribes that herded to- 
 gether in the upper hill country — the No Man's 
 Sheriffdom, on the borders of the three counties of 
 Kirkcudbright, Wigtoun, and Ayr, were broken men 
 from the Border clans and septs — wild Eliots, bystart 
 Beatties from the debatable land, or outlaw Scotts 
 fleeing from the wrath of their own chief, the Warden 
 of the Marches. With them there were the Maca- 
 tericks, a sept of cairds (sturdy rascals) from the 
 wilder parts of North Carrick and the Upper Ward. 
 
 All these outlaw folk used to plunder the men of the 
 middle hills till the Leshmahago Whigs rose into power 
 in the high days of Presbytery before the return of 
 Charles Stewart, the second of the name, weary fa' 
 him. Then these, being decent, God-fearing men, of 
 a dour and lofty spirit, and all joined very close by 
 the tie of a common religion and by the Covenants 
 (National and Solemn League), rose and made an 
 end of the Macatericks, driving them forth of their 
 country with fire and sword. 
 
 Those that escaped betook themselves to the wilds of 
 the moorlands, where no writ ran, no law was obeyed, 
 and no warrant was good unless countersigned with 
 a musket. In the dark days of the Killing, this 
 country (which seems fitted to be the great sanctuary 
 of the persecuted), was more unsafe for them than 
 any part in the wilds ; for the reason that there were 
 always informers there who for hire would bring 
 the troopers on the poor, hunted wretches, cowering 
 with their ragged clothes and tender consciences in
 
 THE HILL GYPSIES. 127 
 
 the moss-haggs and among the great rocks of 
 granite. 
 
 Then in the times which followed, as some yet alive 
 are old enough to remember, all the land was swiftly 
 pacified save only in the " cairds' " country — the 
 cairds being the association of the outlaw clans that 
 had gathered there. It appears strange that, so long 
 as their depredations were within bounds, no man 
 interfered with their marauding, so that they took 
 many cattle and as many sheep as they had need of. 
 As to their country itself, no man had the lairdship 
 of it, though my Lord Stewart of Garlies have long 
 claimed some rights over it. For centuries the whole 
 of it was of the country of the Kennedies, and all the 
 world knows that they were no better than they 
 should be. As for lifting a drove of cattle from the 
 Lowlands, it had been done by every Macaterick for 
 generations, though generally from Carrick or the 
 Machars, where the people are less warlike than in 
 Gallowav itself. 
 
 J 
 
 It was therefore not of the nature of a mere bravado 
 that Hector Faa should send word to the Maxwells, 
 the strongest of all the patriarchal smuggling families 
 of the Solway seaboard, that their only sister was 
 intended for the bride of a gypsy chief. 
 
 Hector Faa had seen May Maxwell at the great 
 fair of Keltonhill, whither she had gone every year 
 since she was a girl under the guardianship of 
 her bodyguard of brothers. Only a year ago 
 Kennedy had smitten Hector on the mouth to the 
 effusion of his blood, and Hector had drawn his knife 
 on the Maxwells, who, however, at Keltonhill, were 
 in their own country and in overwhelming force.
 
 128 . THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Till another day ! " cried Hector Faa, as they 
 dragged him away. 
 
 The other day had come. 
 
 I have no doubt that the gypsies knew well enough 
 that the Maxwell brothers were at a distance or they 
 had been far less bold and infinitely more wary. 
 
 All this takes a long time to tell, yet the sailing away 
 of the smugglers, and the second attack of the gypsies 
 followed within a few minutes of each other. 
 
 We were yet standing in the Hall of Ossian waving 
 our hands before our faces to clear the cave of the 
 sulphurous smoke of the powder. 
 
 " Run," said Richard Maxwell to his daughter ; 
 " bring me my canister. I left it at the cave-head." 
 
 I myself had started to obey him, when he called 
 sharply to me, "Dinna leave your stance. I hear 
 them coming again — ah, if I could but see them ! " 
 
 A moment afterwards there came out of the smoke, 
 floating as it were upon the water, half a dozen heads, 
 black and fierce, with long hair dabbling in the tide 
 as their owners swam towards us. 
 
 Richard Maxwell, Jerry, and I fired, but what with 
 the darkness of the place, the thickness of the smoke, 
 and the horror of shooting at men's heads so close, I 
 think that no one of us except old Richard hit his 
 man. 
 
 In another moment they were on us with the dirk, 
 all except one of them who swam last and seemed to 
 be grievously hurt. 
 
 It was a dismal enough fight in that crowded little 
 cave, and I was nonewise expert at the dirk. Indeed 
 as it was I stood in the corner in front of the niche 
 where May had been loading the muskets, and swung
 
 THE HILL GYPSIES. 129 
 
 my sword in that St. Andrew's cross which hardly 
 even a skilled swordsman can beat down. I felt it 
 strike flesh once and again, and the cave was full of 
 confused darkness and flashings. The oaths of the 
 gypsies, the shouts of old Richard whose pistols cracked 
 again and again, the crying of the womenfolk, all 
 dinned in my ears, and in the midst of all the sulphur 
 of the powder set me a-sneezing. 
 
 'Tis not what one would choose twice to undergo, 
 though indeed I had not chosen it even once. It had 
 come to me without seeking, ever since I saw the 
 twinkling star over Craigdarroch grow into a lowe 
 of the crudest and most cowardly fire-raising. In a 
 little the light grew clearer in the cave, and I could 
 see dimly. Richard Maxwell was in death grips with 
 a tall gypsy, and little Jerry was engaging another. 
 One lay on his face at the edge of the water, and one 
 at my feet. The fifth was nowhere to be seen. I 
 rushed to Richard Maxwell's assistance, but the man 
 at my feet gripped me in the act to run and I came 
 down over him. 
 
 Outside there was a noise of guns — an irregular 
 dropping fire, and the sound of a boat coming up the 
 passage. 
 
 "This is the end," said I, within myself, for it 
 would be as much as we could do to be quit of those 
 who had already gained access to the cave. We could 
 not hope to beat back another boatload. The man 
 who had brought me to the ground could only grip 
 and hold. He had apparently no weapon. Nor was 
 I conscious of a wound, but the horror of his face so 
 near my own, put me in a fever lest I should faint. 
 He drew me nearer and nearer to him as though he
 
 i 3 o THE RAIDERS. 
 
 would bite. I had heard terrible rumours of the 
 ferocity and cannibalism of the folk of the hills. A 
 loathing came over me that was near to fascination, 
 like the tale of the serpent and the bird. I could not 
 resist with my full strength, and I verily believe that 
 by strength of arm the fierce wounded gypsy had 
 drawn me quick into his embrace and met his teeth in 
 my face, had not the boat we had heard coming along 
 the cave at that moment discharged her cargo of men, 
 who, springing out, soon put an end to the combat. 
 
 I must have swooned away before I knew my fate — 
 but more from unusual excitement than from any hurt, 
 and also because I was green and had not yet come to 
 my strength. 
 
 When I awoke Kennedy Maxwell was bending 
 over me. He shook me roughly. 
 " Where is my sister ? " he said. 
 What I said in answer I know not, for my head ran 
 round, and the darkness of the cave, together with the 
 turmoil of the struggle and the lashing of the sea on 
 the pebbles, set me in a swither. 
 
 Kennedy, seeing that I had no certain word to speak, 
 instantly ran from me, leaving me lying. I tried to 
 rise ; and in a little, holding by the rock and leaning 
 my shoulder against it, I stood upon my feet. Two 
 of the Maxwells, Will the eldest and his brother Patie, 
 next in years, were bending over their father where he 
 had fallen at the other side of the wide room where 
 we had fought. Silver Sand knelt on the opposite side, 
 and the old man appeared to speak to him earnestly 
 but with great difficulty. The other five of the 
 Maxwells— Kennedy, and young Richard, David, 
 Archibald, and Steenie — were nowhere to be seen.
 
 THE HILL GYPSIES. 151 
 
 "Is he sore hurt ? " I asked, seeing them so stand 
 about with grave faces. 
 
 Silver Sand looked up quickly and motioned me to 
 be silent, moving the fingers of his right hand quickly 
 up and down. The old man was hurt nigh to death, 
 if not indeed in the act to pass. 
 
 Richard Maxwell looked around, as if seeking what 
 in the dusk of the cave he could not see. 
 
 " Where are the rest r " he said, speaking with 
 difficulty. 
 
 " They are lookin' for May ! " said Peter, in- 
 cautiously. 
 
 His brother Will turned on him with a frown of 
 fierce threat. 
 
 " They may look but they'll no find her," cried the 
 old man. " Alas, I am like Job, stricken in my house 
 and my children at once ! Bring in the lads*" 
 
 Silver Sand went and called them in. They were 
 scattered through all the passages, but no trace 
 of May Maxwell could they find. Jerry also had 
 vanished, and there was no way by which they might 
 have left the cave. Bell came reluctantly out of the 
 nook where in the thick of the fight she had hidden, 
 but could tell nothing. 
 
 The seven Maxwells stood about their father, who 
 sat half supported in the arms of Silver Sand. Only 
 Kennedy hid his face, and he was the youngest. 
 The rest stood stern and calm, accepting the fact 
 without repining. 
 
 "Me have they bereft in one day of my home, of 
 my daughter, and of my life. The Lord knows that 
 never have I done harm to those that sought my 
 blood. Listen, my sons t forgiveness belongs to the
 
 *3* THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Lord, and I forgive these sons of Zeruiah. I, that 
 am about to pass, and shall never carry spear or pistol 
 more, forgive them. But see that ye meddle not with 
 such matters, at least till ye be as near the presence of 
 the Judge as I. Follow after them with a great 
 vengeance. Vindicate the right. Smite with the 
 sword of the Lord and of Gideon. Let the Lord 
 smite an He will, or hold His sword an He will ; 
 but see ye that ye be Gideons and spare not your 
 swords to strike. Let not your eye pity till that evil 
 tribe be rooted out — robbers of houses and murderers 
 of men." 
 
 He paused, his hand on his side. 
 
 "I see," continued the old man, "a time coming, 
 horses and men upon the green. I see the waving of 
 their banners. The companies are marching to the 
 tuck of drum. They are clattering up the Wolf's 
 Slock. I see them go." 
 
 " It is the second sight," whispered Silver Sand. 
 "List to him. No horses can go up the Wolf's 
 Slock." 
 
 " I see them go," he cried, turning sightless eyes 
 upon the roof of the cavern, in so vivid a manner that 
 we all turned our eyes also that way ; but we saw 
 nothing there save the tremulous gathering and 
 scattering of the light which came out of the deep 
 water at the cave's mouth. 
 
 " I hear the horses' cackers (shoes) ringing on the 
 granite. They slide and scrape the corklit x from 
 the stones. O Lord, let me see the brunt o' the 
 battle and wha is the victor afore I gang, and then 
 
 1 " Staneraw," or licheti, used for dyeing, found on the hills of the Out- 
 law country.
 
 THE HILL GYPSIES. 133 
 
 I'll e'en go quiet, like a lamb. Dinna smite unless it 
 be justice, Lord, but gin it be, sheath not Thy sword. 
 Ah, I see them, I see them. Help, Lord, for Thy 
 servant faileth. The bloody and deceitful man shall 
 not live half his days. Their winding-sheet is drawn, 
 and is sleekit white and fair. The Lord has let down 
 His corpse clout upon them." 
 
 There was a long silence, very still, in which I 
 could hear the breathing of the strong men within, 
 and without the pulsing of the sea. Then the high- 
 pitched old man's voice, that was like the crying of an 
 elricht wind about the housetops, again took up the 
 vision. 
 
 "They hae gotten the dead stroke. Thou hast 
 done it ! Death and destruction are written on our 
 Lord's banners. The brunt of the battle is ower. 
 The shower is slacked. The on-ding will come nae 
 mair ! Loch-in-loch ! I see thee, little loch. Thou 
 art clear this morning. Thou art red at even, and 
 there is a pile of haggled heads by thee. Praise to 
 the God of battles. I see the end. It is a Pisgah 
 glimpse. For me I am in His hands. I see the 
 victors come riding home. There is a maid first on 
 a white horse." 
 
 He sat up of his own strength, Silver Sand keeping 
 close behind him to catch him in case that he should 
 fall. 
 
 Waving his hand, he cried, " It is my ain lassie. 
 Praise the Lord, Himself has cast the lap o' His cloak 
 aboot the bairn. Pure within and without, I see her 
 come hame, for the intent of the wicked is holden. 
 The Lord that is a strong Lord deals tenderly with 
 the young plants and waters them oft."
 
 134 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 He fell back, but his voice went on, though the 
 tide was plainly on the ebb. 
 
 " But there is much to do — little time to do it in. 
 Up and awa' back by the east door, the dry door, that 
 we hadna the gumption to see. Follow them that 
 gate. Leave me ! leave me ! Can ye no let an auld 
 man dee his lane ? It's atween him and his Maker 
 at ony gate. Let the dead bury their dead, follow ye 
 the living ! Gang ye ! Gang ye ! Lord, into Thy 
 hands I commit my spirit." 
 
 For a moment only he rallied, opening his eyes on 
 the dusky cave, and seeing the light at the far end of 
 it which came in from the wide sunlit sea. 
 
 " Ebb tide and a dark, ?nisty ?norning ! " he said 
 very quietlv and wended on his way towards the 
 light. 
 
 So the spirit passed, battling and warring to the 
 last as it had lived, to where beyond the shadows 
 there is peace. 
 
 Richard Maxwell had gone out with the ebb tide 
 as the spirit of man does ever.
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE DRY CAVE. 
 
 The dead father lay in the cave. The living sister 
 had gone from it. The Maxwells stood all about 
 their father as Silver Sand, in whose arms he died, 
 laid him down softly and closed his eyes. 
 
 "And now concerning May," said Will Maxwell, 
 like one who passes calmly to the next subject. 
 " Who saw her last ? " 
 
 "She was in the corner where the puns were 
 
 O 
 
 loaded when the rush of men came," I said ; " she 
 passed me a gun just after we saw the black heads on 
 the water." 
 
 " And she was not in the cave when we entered, 
 neither did she pass out by the way we came," said 
 Will. 
 
 "There is a hope for her," I said; "Jerry is also 
 missing. He may be with her." For I knew the 
 tricks of that youth. 
 
 "You heard my father's words," continued Will 
 Maxwell. " It is for us to follow after. We are all 
 fit and able. The track is plain. Whv stand we 
 here ? " 
 
 »35
 
 136 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Where shall we follow ? " said David Maxwell. 
 " Sea or land — Yawkins or Marshall ? " 
 
 " She's never with Yawkins. He was doon the 
 wind afore ever she was oot o' the cave. It's wi' the 
 outlaws we maun seek," said Kennedy. 
 
 The Maxwells made no parade of their intentions, 
 but forthwith settled among themselves how they 
 were to follow. Four were to ride the Raiders' track, 
 while three were to gather wide and raise the country. 
 And they were all to meet at the Bridge of the Black 
 Water of Dee. 
 
 "And you ? " said Will Maxwell, looking to Silver 
 Sand and myself. Silver Sand answered for both of 
 us. 
 
 " We are with you immediately. As soon as we 
 have searched the cave for Jerry we will follow after 
 you." 
 
 "Why will you not be of our company?" said Will. 
 
 " Because," said Silver Sand, " if the outlaws have 
 taken May with them, they would split, and some 
 would leave the cattle-trail to seek the fastest road to 
 the Dungeon of Buchan. We will seek the track of 
 the riders. Follow you the cattle as you say." 
 
 Will Maxwell still appeared not to understand. He 
 had little thought of any refinement of pursuit. He 
 desired only to come swiftly to blows with the out- 
 casts and have the matter over. He doubted not that 
 he should then find his sister, if indeed she had been 
 carried off. 
 
 Silver Sand, being versed in the ways of the hill 
 men, read deeper, and was determined to follow his 
 own council. 
 
 But concerning the steadfast purpose of our search
 
 THE DRY CAVE. 137 
 
 we all made a vow, standing about the dead body of 
 Richard Maxwell, to seek until we found and to strike 
 until we made an end — all except Silver Sand, who had 
 gone aloft to search the higher chamber, whence Jerry, 
 earlier in the combat, had thrown his biscuits. 
 
 On the sandy knowe behind the cave at the 
 farthest end of Rathan we laid Richard Maxwell to 
 rest. As we came out the seagulls clanged about, 
 and a rock dove flew down and perched on the 
 prow of the boat above the dead body, which was 
 strange, and mightily admired, for never did any 
 of us see such like before. But the Maxwells took 
 it as a sign not of this world, so they all of them 
 took off their bonnets and put them in the bottom 
 of the boat ; for which I thought none the worse of 
 them, though I kept mine on (for, indeed, it was 
 but a pigeon and a young bird that was tired flying, 
 which presently was gone), and so we drew to the 
 shore. We buried him with haste and without 
 ordered preparation, but with all reverence, and Silver 
 Sand put up a prayer that moved me strangely, for I 
 knew not even that he was a man who held religion 
 in honour. Then I bethought me on many things I 
 had said to him that were no credit to me to say, and 
 I wished I had not said them. Yet I remembered 
 that he had never rebuked me as a strict professor 
 would have done. 
 
 So ere we departed we made a grave for Richard 
 Maxwell, and I went for spades and shools, which I 
 brought from the House of Rathan. When I was in 
 the house I took a hasty look round to see that all 
 was right. Nothing had been touched. There was 
 not so much as the track of a dirtv foot. But in the
 
 
 138 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 kitchen I found Jerry lying in a wet pool on the floor. 
 I thought him dead, but as I pulled him to the 
 window he recovered somewhat, and said, lifting up 
 his hand to the light and letting the moisture drip 
 from it, " It is only sea water. It was a fine 
 morning, so I took a dook for my health." 
 
 This made me glad, but I could not wait to ask 
 him further, having come for the spades. 
 
 " Ye saw nocht o' May Maxwell ? " I said. 
 
 "I left her in the cave," he said, glancing quickly 
 up ; " she'll be there yet." 
 
 Knowing this not to be so, I left him hastily, com- 
 mending him to a square bottle of Hollands to recover 
 him from his dwam (fainting fit). 
 
 So we laid old Craigdarroch in a fine sandy grave. 
 We had no grave clothes, saving a sheet which I 
 brought from the house, but his face and wounds 
 were washen clean, and he had the look of one that 
 dies well pleased. So we left him without coffin, to 
 the kindly chemie of the mools (earth). For me, I 
 would not have silver plate or polished oak retard by 
 one day the solemn "dust to dust" which is the 
 requiem of us all. 
 
 But we could not start on our search till we had 
 gone back to the cave and resolved the words of the 
 vision concerning the unknown entrance which the 
 old man spoke of. 
 
 So Silver Sand and I took the boat back where I, 
 for one, had no desire to go because of the blood and 
 the keen, fetid stench of gunpowder, which was not 
 yet cleared away. We made a complete search, 
 beginning at the uppermost chamber. We went into 
 every cranny that would admit either of ourselves
 
 THE DRY CAVE. 139 
 
 creeping on our knees or of Ouharrie, going forward 
 with his head down, and growling as though to track 
 out a wild beast. 
 
 But not so much as an outlet for a rat did we find 
 on either hand till we came down to the great cave 
 where the strife had been so deadly. 
 
 "'The dry door — the east door!' quoth he," 
 muttered Silver Sand, musing. Suddenly he clapped 
 his hand on his knee like a man that solves a riddle. 
 
 " What gomerils ! " he cried, and with that he got 
 him into the boat as though to leave the cave. But he 
 put no oar into the water — only felt with it along the 
 dark rock above his head on the right hand, pulling the 
 boat along by his left hand laid on the projections of 
 the rock. The oar scraped and slid along the ledges, 
 bringing down the straws and dirt of the doves' nests 
 into the boat. He went two or three yards in this 
 fashion, pulling the boat with him. Then he came 
 to a sudden dark bend of the rock which looked no 
 more than as it were an aumry or corner cupboard to 
 the cave. All at once his oar, which had been 
 scraping and rasping along the dead wall, fell forward 
 till the leather that lay in the rullock rested on a 
 ledge of rock. 
 
 " I thought as much," cried Silver Sand; "this is 
 the way we lost our maid. The old man saw clearly, 
 as the dying ever see." 
 
 He put his hands as it had been on a breastwork 
 and leapt up, pushing the boat back as he did so till 
 she sent her stern against the opposite wall. 
 
 " Cast me a rope," he cried from above, " and 
 come hither and see ! " 
 
 I did so. He caught the rope deftly, and in a few
 
 140 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 moments I was up beside him. What I saw surprised 
 me that I had not seen it before. For I had passed a 
 thousand times that way, and even taken my skiff 
 round, sitting in it and feeling with my hand if there 
 were any way or any chance of adventure ; for in those 
 days I expected to find a wondrous mermaid in every 
 sea hole. Now I discovered that the rock barrier, 
 which seemed continuous to the roof to one sitting in 
 a boat, was little more than breast high, when one was 
 standing erect. I called myself a fool for not having 
 seen it before. 
 
 " Ye're nocht to me," said Silver Sand, " that has 
 been here before, and that no in good company. 
 More than that, I have seen the very make of this 
 in Antrim, which is in Ireland, at a place they call 
 Port Coon, where much good stuff used to be run." 
 
 This, then, was the " dry door — the east door " 
 that the dying visionary had spoken of. Silver Sand 
 went back to the cave again for a candle, and indeed 
 I was glad to remain by the boat, for I had no stomach 
 any more for the Hall of Ossian. I had not gone even 
 for all the contents of the brass chest which lay hidden 
 in the sand there. 
 
 When Silver Sand came back, he lighted the candle. 
 Standing still in the boat and shielding it with his 
 hand, he looked narrowly at the rock, with his eyes 
 within an inch or two of the wall. 
 
 " I thocht as muckle," he said. " Hector, my man, 
 this is the gate ye gaed." And he pointed out to me 
 a series of irregular steps, not greatly larger than 
 notches, that went up from the water to the edge of 
 the rock breastwork. They were not one above 
 another, like steps in a ladder, but more like the steps
 
 THE DRY CAVE. 141 
 
 over a stone dyke. Some of them might be natural, 
 but the best part were made. No wonder Hector 
 Faa knew of these, for was it not the Isle of Rogues ? 
 
 " Up, my man ! " cried Silver Sand to me. " Gin 
 ye want yer lass, ye hae nae time to waste. The 
 Faas bides na on priest nor presbyter when they marry 
 or gie in marriage ! " 
 
 "My lass," he said. May Maxwell was no lass 
 of mine, and at another time I should have said so. 
 But she and I had been friendly during these last days, 
 and I had done her a good turn according to my ability, 
 which always breeds kindly feeling. But " My lass," 
 quoth he. " My faith, that was an over-quick word," 
 I said to myself. 
 
 Yet it was no time to argie-bargie (dispute) about 
 words and sayings if we were to save this young maid 
 that was so bright and cheery, though a kenning mis- 
 chievous, from the grip of the wild and ungodly gypsies 
 of the hills. With the candle alight we looked narrowly 
 at this new cave, which was bone dry on the other 
 side of the barrier. The bottom was a smooth bed of 
 freestone rock, as if the water had worn it, but there 
 were no pebbles upon it. 
 
 " Hector Faa was rinnin' bareiit, and carrying the 
 lass," said Silver Sand. 
 
 " How do ye ken that ? " 1 said, for 1 could not 
 conceive how he knew. 
 
 " Because there's neither nail nor shod marks, but 
 yet the limpet fish have been started here and there, 
 so somebody has come by this way middlin' fast, and 
 that at no long time's distance." 
 
 We tracked the dry cave some way till we could 
 hear the wash of the waves again. Then we came to
 
 142 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 a narrow opening very low down, through which the 
 tide was rippling brightly and softly. The roof of 
 the cave came to within three feet of the water, like 
 the blue hood of a packman's waggon. Silver Sand 
 stepped down and out. I followed him, and we found 
 ourselves standing in the broad sunlight in a little bay 
 that looks to the south-east, among the high craigs of 
 Rathan Island. Silver Sand was gazing all about him, 
 looking so extraordinarily foolish with the lighted 
 candle in his hand in the broad sun, that I laughed 
 aloud. 
 
 He looked at me cross-like. "What may it please 
 ye to be so merry about ? " he asked. 
 
 I said no word, but pointed to the candle in his 
 hand. He blew it out, and looked at me with his 
 eyes drawn to pin-points, like a cat's in the sun. 
 
 "Gin she were my lass, it's no laughing I would be." 
 
 This he said nettled-like, in a way that I had never 
 dreamed of, for it was strange to me that such a man as 
 Silver Sand, who could be so mysterious and uncanny, 
 should mind being laughed at like an ungrown girl. 
 
 Meanwhile his eyes, roving everywhere quick as 
 thought, landed on something that seemed to take 
 him greatly. He pointed with his finger to the 
 bottom of the water in which we stood up to our 
 knees. Looking, I saw a little shoe sitting on its 
 sole on the sand, as though it had been set afloat to 
 sail for sport and had softly filled and sunk. I lifted 
 it and held it in my hand, and from that moment all 
 that day I had no thought of merry-making. Silver 
 Sand had indeed struck the laugh out of my face. It 
 was May Mischief's shoe, and it looked so pretty and 
 simple with its little wet silver buckle glinting in the
 
 THE DRY CAVE. 143 
 
 sun that I could not forbear weeping. It seemed 
 mortally affecting to me because it was the shoe 
 which she wore the day I called her " Impudent 
 Besom." I could see her as she sat on the window 
 seat, dangling her feet in the air, sitting on the fingers 
 of both hands turned with the palms down on the sill, 
 her hair like a boy's, and she with a very pretty mouth 
 piping away like a blackbird at "The Bush abune 
 Traquair." All this came so sore upon me that it 
 was a comfort to greet and make myself small before 
 Silver Sand, who stood looking at me, not waeful, but 
 as one might at a child who has broken his toy and 
 thinks he will never be happy any more. 
 
 But for all that I was glad now that he had said 
 "Your lass !" 
 
 So we waded our way to the shore, and before we 
 came out Silver Sand threw the old tin candle stock 
 into the tide, which I went and carefully picked out 
 again. There was no service in being wasterful that 
 day or any other day, for it was the candle which used 
 to sit on the stone shelf of the milkhouse at Rathan in 
 my father's time. And it stands there to this day. 
 
 When we got to the house we found Jerry Mac- 
 Whirter much recovered, but not able yet to move 
 far. 
 
 " I'll take care o' the house for ye till ye come 
 back," he said. " It'll be as muckle as I'm good for. 
 I'll be obliged to you for the loan of the cellar key, 
 and if ye'll reach me down that side of bacon ham, the 
 frying-pan, and some butter, I'll manage brawly," said 
 that cheerful vouth. 
 
 J 
 
 " Have any of the Maxwells been here ? " I asked of 
 him as I gave him what he asked for.
 
 144 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Aye," said Jerry, " an' they hae ta'en muskets an' 
 ammunition, an' aff to follow the chase. O that I 
 could gang after them, but faain' bellyflaught on the 
 water like a paddock is no chancy for one's inwards." 
 
 This was all that Jerry had to tell, and not a word 
 more could we get out of him. He did not seem at all 
 concerned that May Maxwell should have been carried 
 off. He treated it as an excellent jest to laugh at. 
 
 "Weel, it's dootless a queer taste to rin aff wi' a 
 gypsy, but I've heard o' sic like," he said. 
 
 " I'll thraw your neck for that, Jerry MacWhirter, 
 when I come back ! " I cried as I went out of the 
 door. 
 
 " Tak' care that ye ever come back on your legs," 
 he cried. " Gin ye're gaun to hie after hizzies that 
 rins to Gretna wi' gypsies, ye are more like to come 
 back wi' your feet foremost, or I'm mistaen." 
 
 The last I heard of Jerry was some words that he 
 cried after me as I went along the stone passage : " Ye 
 micht leave me a scrive o' yer pen, Laird, that wad 
 serve me heir to Rathan — in case like " 
 
 And I heard no more. I had, however, heard 
 enough to make me swear to twist his neck on my 
 back-coming — which, indeed, I may say in this place, 
 1 lived creditably to perform and like one that is a man 
 of his word.
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 THE CAMP OF SILVER SAND. 
 
 But fast as I might go, with my pistols new primed 
 and an extra powder flask at my hip, Silver Sand went 
 the faster. We were to take the boat over to the 
 Orraland Cove, where were the white shell sands. 
 
 Ouharrie was in the boat before us, and a fearsome- 
 looking beast he was, for he had somehow been in the 
 fray and had gotten a lick with a whinger on the 
 chops, which his master had made shift to stitch in 
 a neat and surgeon-like manner, doing it like one bred 
 to the business, as indeed he did everything to which 
 he set his hand. 
 
 As we went, I at the tiller, Silver Sand at the oars, 
 as was usual (for Silver Sand liked exercise, while I 
 was in no wise partial to it), I said to him, "We are 
 to follow the Maxwells, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Suppose here, suppose there," said Silver Sand, 
 who seemed a little discomposed in his temper for some 
 reason that I could not divine ; "gin ye want to play 
 follow-dick to the Maxwell lads, ye can do it. That's 
 the way to find the beasts, gin it's the nowt ye're 
 wantin'. But if ye want the bit lass, afore Hector 
 Faa's minnie ties him an' her up ower the tangs, ye'll 
 hae to try anither way o't." Being wise I said nothing, 
 
 IO 145
 
 146 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 but waited for explanations, knowing better than to in- 
 terfere with Silver Sand when he was in such a mood. 
 Suddenly a thought made me strike my pockets. 
 We had no money, and though steel blades and steel 
 pistol barrels were imperative, some of the coin of the 
 realm might be useful. I mentioned my distress to 
 Silver Sand and he smiled. 
 
 "Tak' ye never a thocht for the siller," said he, 
 " there's a guid steeve purse inside this sleeved waist- 
 coat that is at your service every doit and boddle ! " 
 
 I must have looked very queerly at him, I daresay, 
 for he made answer — 
 
 " Ye needna turn up your een at me like tea-dishes. 
 I am neyther thief nor robber — though I bena a laird 
 wi' an island that I can nearly cover wi' my breeks 
 when I sit doon on it. Think ye I hae no siller 
 because I am but a packman an' a seller o' scythe sand 
 and keel ? " said he. " Forget na the keel ! " 
 
 "Whiles I am thinking, Silver Sand," said I, quietly, 
 without any show of temper, "that you are very 
 different from what you appear to be." 
 
 A very futile and foolish remark, as I now perceive. 
 
 " Dod, d'ye ken," said he, pleased-like, " but I'm 
 whiles o' that opeenion mysel'." 
 
 He quite recovered his good-humour in a moment. 
 I think it was that the matter of the candle still stuck 
 in his throat, so terribly was he set against being 
 laughed at. 
 
 " But hae ye really siller enough for us baith ? " I 
 asked, just to make sure. 
 
 Silver Sand put his hand into his pocket and poured 
 out of a purse a full gowpenful (double-handful) of 
 golden guineas, such as I had never seen before.
 
 THE CAMP OF SILVER SAND. 147 
 
 " Keel's remarkable profitable," he said. 
 
 " 'Deed aye," I replied wistfully ; " I'd swap Rathan 
 for your cuddy at that rate. An' by the ribs of the 
 Curate o' Carsephairn, there's that same cuddy ! " 
 But I knew well he was but daffing about the profit 
 on keel. 
 
 As we landed and pulled up the boat Silver Sand's 
 donkey, a beautiful beast of a dun mouse colour, and 
 far larger than common donkeys, came frisking down 
 to meet us. 
 
 "It's weel," said I, "that the gypsies didna get their 
 fingers ower the bit cuddy or ye wad hae had to buy 
 anither." 
 
 "Aye," he said drily, "but I'm thinkin' that the 
 dourest catheran that steps atween here an' John o' 
 Groats will think twice afore he meddles wi' Silver 
 Sand his cuddy." 
 
 Then we took our ways up to the tent in the wood 
 which Silver Sand had pitched the morning before 
 opposite to the Isle Rathan. It was standing intact, 
 without confusion inside or out. There were, how- 
 ever, many footmarks about it, as of clooted (hoofed) 
 feet of cattle, broad pads of unshod horses, sharp steds 
 of horseshoes, and the slipping prints of bare human 
 feet over all. 
 
 The mystery was more mysterious than ever to me 
 now. The wild gypsies had indeed been in this quiet 
 nook of Orraland Glen. It was here that they had 
 gathered their drove to make for the hills. How 
 came it then that all the property, left here so openly 
 with only a cuddy and no other warden, was as secure 
 as though locked in Kirkcudbright jail ? The solution 
 was beyond me. I saw, however, that the answer
 
 148 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 was bound up with the manner in which Silver Sand 
 undertook to keep Rathan House safe against hill 
 gypsy and black smuggler. The two things hung 
 together. But as I was the one to profit, I had 
 nothing to say in the matter. As we came near to 
 the tent (which was bell shaped, with a pole of un- 
 trimmed birch stuck through the roof), I saw a plain 
 saugh (willow) wand, peeled white, leaning against 
 the door flap. It was stuck deep into the ground, and 
 was easy to be seen by all that came near. Then on 
 the flap itself there were curious signs, like those they 
 say are to be seen in the land of Egypt, the country 
 out of which the children of Israel escaped. In the 
 centre of these was the sign which is known among 
 Eastern peoples as the Shield of David. This was 
 painted in black, but there were two bars of red across 
 it, a thick and a thin, the thick being topmost. Strange 
 letter-signs as of lions and gryphons, and many eagle- 
 faced things were also painted on the canvas in outline. 
 
 " What might these be," I asked of Silver Sand, 
 somewhat incautiously. I might have been well aware 
 that if there were any secret in the matter worth 
 knowing, it was not likely that he would be telling 
 me his mysteries then. 
 
 " Well," said he, " they micht be drawed to amuse 
 the cuddy, or they micht be made by the birds o' the 
 air drappin' fairings on them, or aiblins they micht be 
 mysel' tryin' the quality o' my tar and keel ; but ye 
 see, they're nane o' a' thae, an' thank ye for speerin'." 
 
 Such an answer I might have expected, but the truth 
 is I asked the question without thinking. 
 
 He paused a moment as though to ask himself if it 
 were worth while to give me any information.
 
 THE CAMP OF SILVER SAND. 149 
 
 " They're just my lock and key," he said, drily, and 
 that was all I got out of him. 
 
 He went into his tent, putting aside the peeled rod, 
 but he did not ask me to enter ; yet, when he came 
 out, he brought a bottle of foreign wine with him 
 and some sweet cakes, of which he bade me partake. 
 
 I objected that I did not care for wine, and indeed 
 never used it. 
 
 " Ye'll be the better o't or ye get to your journey's 
 end," he said ; " them that gaes linking thorough the 
 moss-haggs and the muirs wi' Silver Sand and Ouharrie 
 has need o' some steeve belly-timber, whatever." 
 
 So I took a little, and what with me being unaccus- 
 tomed to it, and the rarity of the vintage, it ran 
 through my veins like soft liquid fire, extraordinarily 
 heartsome and vivid. 
 
 " That's surely by-ordinar'," said I. 
 
 "Aye," he said, " there's no the like o' that in braid 
 Scotland. That comes frae whaur the swallows gang 
 in the winter time." 
 
 " And where's that," I asked, more anxious than 
 ever to hear him speak of it, for indeed it was a thing 
 that I had often wondered at but could get no satis- 
 faction about. 
 
 But he did nothing but laugh and say, "Maybes at 
 the bottom o' Carlinwark Loch ! " 
 
 And though that was the currently reported opinion, 
 I knew well that he was joking, though he liked my 
 quip about the candle ill enough. It is a strange 
 thing that the folk that are aye taking their nap off" 
 other folks are the thinnest in the pelt themselves. 
 But it is a thing I have noticed particularly, and that 
 many times.
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 COUNCIL OF WAR. 
 
 So we set out, travelling forward with all speed, but, 
 as our custom was, talking as we went. We spoke of 
 the daring of the outlaws. No raid for fifty years had 
 reached so far south as the shores of the Solway, though 
 the smugglers and the gypsies had a regular route by 
 which they conveyed their smuggled stuff* to Edinburgh 
 on the east, and Glasgow or Paisley on the west. So 
 complete was their system, and so great their daring, 
 that it is safe to say that there was not a farmer's grey- 
 beard between the Lothians and the Solway filled with 
 spirit that had done obeisance to King George, and 
 not a burgher's wife that had duty-paid lace on her 
 Sabbath mutch. The gaugers were few and harmless, 
 contenting themselves for the most part with lingering 
 round public-houses in towns, and bearing a measure 
 cup and gauging-stick about the markets — occupations 
 for which they were entirely suited. 
 
 The remark that I next made to Silver Sand was 
 that such actions as kidnapping and fire-raising ought 
 to be punished with hanging. 
 
 " That observe has been made before, Laird Rathan," 
 he said in an ironical manner ; " but as for me, though
 
 COUNCIL OF WAR. 151 
 
 I'm trying to get ye back your lass, it's for the love 
 I bear to you and the bit lass hersel' — no that I hae 
 ony fault to fin' wi' Hector Faa or ony o' his clan." 
 
 "But it's cruel abduction and murder," said I, "and 
 it breaks my heart to hear you upholding sic ongoings." 
 
 " Ye're young, ye're young, Rathan," said he, " an' 
 in time ye'll learn sense. Man, whaur did a' the gipsy 
 wives come frae that hae keepit the Faas in being for 
 so mony generations. They were a' liftit, yin an' a'. 
 There's Meggat Faa, that is the mither o' Hector and 
 John Faa himseP. Do ye think Meggat is a Faa by 
 birth ? I tell ye, not her — she's come o' decent 
 Border folk as ever was — Kers o' Blackshiels ower by 
 Yethom. But she's mair Faa this day than ony o' her 
 sons. Noo, what is't that brings aboot the like o' 
 that ? I can tell ye that ; an' in this age o' ill-doing 
 and ill-thinking (wi' the tales that we hear aboot the 
 wee, wee German lairdie an' his Dutch women — an' 
 maybe ithers no sae far frae hame), let me tell ye that 
 there's no a Faa that wadna mak' a guid man, leal and 
 true-hearted, kind too at the feck o' times. Faith, let 
 me tell ye there's mony a lass that micht be prood to 
 be in the place o' Mistress May Maxwell the nicht." 
 
 "Then if that be your key, I'm lang aneuch wi' 
 you," cried I, hotly flaming up at the way he spoke 
 about the man who had abducted by force the daughter 
 of Richard Maxwell, who lay coffinless in his shroud 
 under the sands of Rathan. But as I grew hot Silver 
 Sand grew cool. 
 
 " Na, na, laddie, I'm wi' ye to the neck, dirk and 
 dagger, I hae thrown awa' the scabbard ; but I'll never 
 say that the Faas are ill to their wives, or, 'deed, that 
 they are sic ill folk ava'."
 
 152 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 "Wha does the murders, then, that they are 
 blamed for ? " said I. 
 
 "'Deed, there's bluid shed a plenty, and the Faas 
 nae doot hae their hand in't, and they shall be hangit 
 and headed for it, an' it's no me that shall peety them ; 
 but O man, I like ill to hear folk that bien and cosy, 
 hiveing thegither like a bee's byke, cryin' oot on them 
 that's lying amang the hills. Man, I've been there 
 mysel', an' I ken what it means never to get justice 
 nor the chance o' justice — to be tried by sherras and 
 judges that hae ye judged and condemned afore ever 
 ye win into the coort." 
 
 " But ye wadna condone murder and robbery, man, 
 surely, wad ye ? for if ye say c Aye,' muckle as I loe 
 ye, you an' me maun twine," said I. 
 
 " My lad," said Silver Sand, " you an' me will agree. 
 I'm as great on the side o' the law as it's siccar to be 
 in thae uncertain times, when wha kens when they 
 gang to their naked beds whether they'll wakken 
 under King or Pretender, or indeed wha's richt King 
 an' wha's wrang Pretender." 
 
 " As for me," said I, with a self-righteousness that 
 I wonder Silver Sand did not kick me for — "as for 
 me, I am at all times on the side of the law." 
 
 " My gracious, think o' that ! " said Silver Sand j 
 " they'll mak' ye a gauger ! Ye hae a rare job afore 
 ye wi' thae brithers-in-law o' yours, the Maxwell 
 callants. They're nane sae fond o' the law, that I 
 ken." 
 
 I declare that I could have pistolled him there and 
 then for saying such a thing about the kin of a poor 
 young lass that had lost her father, and was at that 
 moment in the hands of a ruffian.
 
 COUNCIL OF WAR. 153 
 
 I said as much to him, whereupon he laughed, 
 having regained more than his former goodwill, and 
 treated me with a fine and glancing affection, which, 
 from one so strange in appearance and mysterious in 
 antecedents as he, made me wonder that I liked it so 
 well. 
 
 " Come noo, Paitrick," he said, " you and me has 
 kenned yin anither a gye while. Ye ken that I am 
 wi' ye to the last gasp — aye, an' ayont it, if they'll let 
 the like o' me through Peter's White Yetts. I'll 
 fecht wi' ye again' Faas and Macatericks and Marshalls, 
 and especially again' Marshalls ; but I'm thinkin' that 
 you and me had best stick thegither. Ye are a 
 braw lad an' a bonny bit fechter, but ye want the 
 judgment. Man, the great art is to keep clear o' 
 fechtin' till ye canna help it. An' then — why, then — 
 dinna mak' twa jobs o't." 
 
 He clapped me on the shoulder. " Sit ye doon. 
 There is a council o' war called," he said. 
 
 Having said all this so rapidly that he left me 
 breathless, he plumped down on an anthill, and 
 motioned me to do the like. But I sat on a stone 
 and said nothing. I watched for the ants to come 
 out, but the hill was empty and none came, which 
 vexed me. 
 
 The night was drawing down apace, and we were 
 in a very desert place under the fine rocky hill that is 
 called Screel, which rises from the Solway side, and 
 is visible like a great blue potato-pit against the sky 
 all over the southland of Galloway. We had made our 
 way among rocks that crumbled under our feet, and 
 rang with a kind of iron clang as we trod across them. 
 I was most exceedingly hungry, yet in this place no
 
 154 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 victual grew, and there was no farm town within 
 our sight. It seemed, however, but a little way to 
 the clouds. 
 
 "Let us reckon the chances," said Silver Sand. 
 " The first thing is to make up our minds what the 
 enemy is likely to do, and then we can plan our own 
 course. First, then, there's the smugglers wi' their 
 casks and ankers of brandy and wine. We may let 
 them gang. They are far on the road to Edinburgh 
 wi' the Preventive men keepin' weel oot o' their 
 road. Then, in the second place (this is like preach- 
 in'), there's the cattle reivers. They had a lang start 
 — mair nor fifteen hours, mind ye, for they never 
 cam' near the Cave o' Rathan. They wad start when 
 the onstead o' Craigdarroch was in a bleeze. Then 
 there's oor freen that ye are mair particularly interested 
 in, Hector Faa an' his bridal company — that has, ye 
 may depend, the best horses and the best of advice 
 and assistance on the road. They'll be the hardest to 
 mak' up on ! " 
 
 "Silver Sand, I ask ye no to speak o' the young 
 lass like that." 
 
 " Aweel, aweel, Rathan, then I'll no ; but dinna 
 fret, I'm kind o' sib to the gypsies mysel', an' I can 
 tell ye that till the marriage is by at the end o' the 
 three days o' feastin', May Maxwell will be attended 
 and 'kuitled'" (made much of) "like a leddy — an' 
 after that mair nor ever, for she'll be a Faa hersel'." 
 
 " God forbid ! " said I, fervently. 
 
 " Amen to that ! " said Silver Sand. " We'll e'en 
 make her a Heron, though the Herons are but lang- 
 nebbit paddock-dabbers to the Faas." 
 
 All the same I was extraordinarily relieved to know
 
 COUNCIL OF WAR. 155 
 
 that the young maid was safe from insult, and also 
 that we had at least three days after Hector and his 
 prisoner reached the outlaws' hold on Loch Enoch- 
 side. It was not much to be thankful for, but it was 
 so much better than my fear, that I almost counted 
 it an actual deliverance. 
 
 As Silver Sand sat on the ground, he laid his long 
 arms, from the elbow to the wrist on the heather 
 before him, as though they were actual weapons ; and 
 sitting there, I saw that the joints seemed to be set 
 the other way, either naturally or through some extra- 
 ordinary torture. Seeing which a great pity took hold 
 on my heart, and the tears came into my eyes. I 
 remembered all his kindness, and so without more ado 
 I set my arm round his neck and said to him earnestly, 
 " Forgie me for every ill thing I hae said to ye, for 
 O man, I like ye — I like ye ! " 
 
 For a moment Silver Sand glared at me as if he had 
 been angry, then suddenly laid his face between his 
 hands and sobbed as if he would tear his throat. It 
 was terrible. I knew not what to do in that lonely 
 place, but I laid my head on his shoulder to see if that 
 would comfort him. 
 
 " O man Paitrick ! " he cried at last, " ye hae 
 given me back my manhood. I have been treated 
 like a beast. I have been a beast. I have lived wi' 
 the beasts, but you are the first that has drawn to me 
 for thirty years. Paitrick, ye may want a friend for 
 you and yours, but it shallna be as lang as Silver Sand 
 can trail his auld twisted banes after ye. Man, I wad 
 gang for ye into the 111 Bit itsel', that's fu' o' brim- 
 stane reek, the reed lowe jookin' through the bars, and 
 the puir, puir craiters yammerin' ahint."
 
 156 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 He turned away for a moment, and when he looked 
 up again all trace of his emotion had gone. 
 
 " But this is no what we are here for," he said, with 
 one of his quick changes ; " we didna come here for 
 oor healths, as Jerry Macwhirter jumpit oot o' the 
 cave-hole." He went on calmly. " The question is, 
 what road gang we ? I'll tell ye what I think, an' 
 then I'll hear your mind on't. The cattle are easily 
 trackit. Ye canna drive cattle withoot leaving plenty 
 o' marks. There's but yae road for them, and that's 
 the straughtest. Gin they pass the fords o' the Black 
 Water, an' get by Cairn Edward and the Black Craig, 
 the Maxwells may say, c Fare ye weel, Kilaivie,' to 
 every hilt an' hair o' them. Noo, second, ye may 
 depend that Hector, the lass, an' yin or twa mair are 
 doin' no cattle drovin', but killing horse beasts on the 
 road for the Dungeon o' Buchan and the Karnes o' 
 Loch Enoch. What road they wad gang, I kenna, 
 but I hae my ain opeenion. It'll no be the direct 
 road, ony way ye tak' it, for weel wad Hector ken 
 that the country wad be raised ahint him, an' that 
 the Glenkens wadna be safe for horses. Noo, a horse 
 is just a necessity to him. The lass wadna walk, and 
 they couldna carry her fast for twenty mile. I'll 
 guarantee that they're by the Gate House o' the Fleet 
 by noo, and streekin' it for the Ferrytoon o' Cree as 
 fast as the horses can birl. Then they'll bide for an 
 hour or twa up at the Herd's Hoose, or Cassencary 
 belike, that's a graund hauf o' smugglers and gypsies. 
 Mistress Ogilvy will look after the lass, an' clap her 
 on the back when she greets, an' tell her tales o' the 
 braw wives the Faas has gotten, an' hoo mony grand 
 lasses wad be keen, keen o' Hector."
 
 COUNCIL OF WAR. 157 
 
 " The fause randy," quoth I, exceedingly angry ; 
 " I'll hae her indicate as a witch." 
 
 " Na, na," said Silver Sand ; " ye'll no do that, for 
 Mistress Ogilvy's a freend o'mine and a decent woman 
 forbye." 
 
 But I was of a very different opinion. 
 
 Silver Sand paused a while, considering and ponder- 
 ing till I was weary. At last he appeared to reach a 
 decision, for he took a piece of oaten cake out of his 
 pocket, halving it fairly as he did so. 
 
 "I doubt that you and me maun twine afore we 
 hae gane mony mae miles. I am wae to think on it, 
 Paitrick, but it is the best that I can think on. I 
 maun get there by the heather and my legs as quick 
 as a horse wi' six hours' start can gallop by the Cree 
 road. Noo that is juist possible for Ouharrie an' me, 
 but no possible ava' for you. What ye maun do is to 
 get afore the cattle, that's making for the auld Brig o' 
 Dee four mile on the far side o' Clachanpluck, atween 
 that an New Galloway." 
 
 " How do you manage to make out that, man ? " I 
 asked. " is it not more like that they wad tak' 
 straight to the hills." 
 
 Silver Sand turned on me a look of scorn. 
 
 " It's weel seen that ye are shore-bred, and no 
 Bloom-o'-the-Heather, or ye wadna speak o' drivin' 
 cattle fast through the moors. Man, to gang fast 
 they're mortally bound to follow a drove road. Noo 
 they maun keep the west side o' Ken, and the east 
 side o' Grenoch Loch by Clachanpluck. They darena 
 keep the Parton Road, for that's ower public, and 
 beside, Ken Brig is easy stoppit and sure to be 
 guarded. They canna tak' the Lochenbreck hills, as
 
 1 58 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I mean to do, straight from here, for the cattle wadna 
 drive ower the braid muir." 
 
 " Noo, ye maun get to the Dungeon o' Buchan 
 afore the cattle ; they'll no be expectin' rescuers afore 
 that, and I maun get with speed to Eschonquhan by 
 the Loch of Trool. Whatever yin o' us finds the 
 lass maun hing afF an' on till the ither comes, unless 
 a chance opens by-ordinar' sure." 
 
 "But how shall we find one another? " I said, for 
 in that wild, unknown country it seemed a madness, 
 especially for me who had never been there in my 
 life before. I saw myself already a poor lost for- 
 wandered lad, out on the hungry hill, and May 
 Maxwell the bride of the Faa. 
 
 Indeed, the thought of parting with Silver Sand, 
 and even from the companionship of Ouharrie, daun- 
 toned me so sore that I could have wept ; but I 
 remembered the grey hair of Richard Maxwell, 
 dabbled with his blood, his roof-tree blazing the 
 while with the red flame, and I resolved that whoever 
 should have mercy on the wild gypsies, I at least 
 should strike and spare not. 
 
 The bushel-stoup of their iniquity was nearly full 
 measure, heaped and running over, and it would soon 
 be straked with the Lord's own level and plumb line.
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 
 
 So, as night fell on this most eventful day in my life, 
 Silver Sand and I, Patrick Heron, set forward over 
 the dreary stretch of Ingleston Moor that lies on the 
 hip of Screel. Though it was the May time of the 
 year and the green leaves were shooting out from the 
 branches, yet the air was shrewd as it breathed from 
 the north ; and I wished for my great sea-cloak, that 
 had been my father's before me, having with me only 
 a plaid, and that a small checked one, which was made 
 for my father to look the sheep in when he left the 
 sea and came to Rathan. But Silver Sand had no 
 cloak or plaid whatsomever ; yet he did not appear in 
 the least disconvenienced. Now I am reminded by 
 one that looks over my shoulder, without ever speering 
 the leave of me, that those who use to read in tales, 
 love to have a description of the dresses of the heroes. 
 But I am no hero, God wot ; and as for Silver Sand, 
 he was not dressed fitting to be described in print. 
 
 Yet because the old fashion is passed away with the 
 old lawless time, it may advantage to mention the 
 ancient style of dress. Silver Sand was clad in a 
 rough cap of badger skin with the fur out, and the 
 
 J 59
 
 160 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 ears cocked up on either side above his own, which 
 gave him an appearance extraordinarily alert. For 
 the rest he had on knee-breeches of hodden grey, and 
 a round coat of the same without tails. His arms 
 stood through his tight body-coat a great way, and 
 when he travelled he was wont to take off his loose 
 surtout and travel in his sleeved waistcoat, carrying his 
 coat over his arm, as is the summer fashion in Gallo- 
 way even to this day. 
 
 It so happened that on the day before I had put on 
 my best suit, having regard to seeing May Maxwell — 
 not that I had any desire to find favour in her eyes in 
 the way of love, but because she had scouted and 
 despised me when she came to my own house with 
 Mistress Alison and Mistress MacWhirter, and I was 
 resolved that she should do so no more. 
 
 I wore my own hair without powder, which indeed 
 also my father never used, nor any of our house, so 
 far as I know; but I had it clubbed behind in a ribbon 
 band. My body-coat was of the fine blue cloth, 
 rather light blue than dark blue, long in the waist, 
 with large silver buttons of pierced work, and creamy 
 lace at the sleeves, monstrous fine. Underneath I 
 wore a waistcoat that fitted me very well, as I 
 thought. It was cut with long flaps on the thighs, 
 in which were pockets, with broad mother-of-pearl 
 buttons. Then as for my legs, they were covered 
 with breeks of strong hodden grey, but of finer make 
 than usual, which they weave somewhere near the 
 Border. I wore pearl buckles at the knees. Long 
 knitted " rig-and-fur " stockings had I also, sharp- 
 pointed shoes that I bent upwards with care and 
 labour — silver buckles also on these. Thus was I
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 161 
 
 dressed in an attire more befitting the kirk of Dullarg 
 on a Sabbath than nights and days on the wild hills 
 of the Dungeon of Buchan. 
 
 In the fray of the cave, and during my adventures 
 of the night before, the lace had been so torn off that 
 I judged it better to take it all away, and so safely 
 stowed it in my pocket, designing to have it stitched 
 and put on again in due time. 
 
 Upon first setting out upon this quest I was careful 
 of my attire, but ere all was done I gave no thought 
 to it, more than if it had been a corn sack with leg 
 and arm-holes pierced at the four corners, which some 
 landward men in the remoter parts of Galloway still 
 use. So under the cloud of night, and with some 
 comfort from the little provision Silver Sand had 
 brought, we set out over the heather-bushes of Airie- 
 land Moor. We went down a little glen-side which 
 opened from the hill where there were trees, birks, and 
 oaks, I think — as near as I could tell from the sound 
 that their leaves made in the dry, cold north wind of 
 night. 
 
 We passed a row of cot-houses by a mill-dam, and 
 came down to the farm-town of Airieland, where is a 
 great steading. We heard the cows tossing their 
 heads and jingling their chains in the byre with a 
 homely and friendly sound. So I took an extra- 
 ordinary grooing (desire) in my inside for a drink of 
 warm milk, such as I was accustomed to get from 
 May Maxwell along with many disdainful words when 
 I rowed across to Craigdarroch in the morning. 
 
 So I said to Silver Sand, " Can we not waken the 
 people here and ask for a drink of the good new 
 milk ? " 
 
 ii
 
 1 62 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 V. 
 
 Ye may," says he, " but, mind you, Hector Faa 
 waits na for new milk — his new milk is ayont the hill, 
 an' he's runnin' for it ! " 
 
 "But," said I, "unless I get something I fear that 
 I am done, and that I can go no further." 
 
 " If that be so, we'll sune fettle that ! " says he, and 
 with no more words he turned aside into the byre, 
 drew a milking stool down from between the thatch 
 and the wall, and looked about for a vessel to milk in. 
 In the dim light that was in the byre he could see 
 none ; but after looking at his own hat he said, " Gie 
 me haud o' your bonnet ! " which, when I had given 
 him, he carefully knocked in the crown, then out of 
 the high-peaked cock that stood upwards with a gay 
 air he made a tolerable drinking vessel. This he set 
 on his knees, and went briskly to milking a cow into 
 it, which I marvelled to see, having had little ex- 
 perience of cows myself. But Silver Sand was at no 
 loss, and in a few moments he handed me the full of 
 my hat of most excellent warm milk, which, when I 
 had taken, and another like it, refreshed me extra- 
 ordinarily. 
 
 Then I urged upon Silver Sand to take the like 
 himself, and to use my hat, which had twice been used 
 before. 
 
 " Na," he said, slily, " it's better to keep the stock 
 separate. It saves marking them wi' keel, and keel, 
 ye ken, is extraordinary expensive." 
 
 Then, having refused my hat, he showed me a 
 trick that I had never seen, though how he managed 
 it is more than I can say in the darkness of the byre. 
 I heard the sough, sough of the milk streaming into 
 some receptacle.
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 163 
 
 " Have you found a vessel to hold the milk ? " I 
 asked, thinking that he might just as lief have found 
 it before he spoiled my hat. 
 
 " Ay," said he, " I have found a vessel, but the mis- 
 chief is that there's a hole in the bottom of it, and it a 1 
 rins out as fast as I can milk it in." 
 
 " Then," I asked, in my simplicity, " why do you 
 do it ? " 
 
 He laughed, but made me no answer. Then, as 
 my eyes became accustomed to the dusk of the byre, 
 and the long rows of cow's hurdies, I saw that the 
 madcap was making an extraordinarily wide mouth, 
 and milking sideways into it, which made me much 
 admire why the cow did not kick him. For the only 
 time that I had tried the milking was at Craigdarroch, 
 being persuaded thereto by May Maxwell with many 
 smooth words ; but the cow, that was a noted kicker, 
 spilled me and the milking -pail heels-over-body, 
 which caused a great laughter — at which I laughed 
 also, but privately thought it a poor joke to spoil my 
 suit of second-best clothes in the gutter of a shippen. 
 But this trick of Silver Sand was new to me, and 
 I stood and gaped till, seeing with his cat's eyes that 
 my mouth was open, he suddenly directed a stream of 
 milk therein, to my great inconvenience, for I was not 
 expecting it. This seemed to me also an unfitting 
 jest, considering the gravity of our situation. Besides, 
 I feared that some drops had fallen on my coat. So I 
 said to him, with some sharpness — 
 
 " Now, when you have quite done playing the fool, 
 perhaps you will tell me how you mean to pay the 
 goodman of his house for his hospitality." 
 
 " Hoots," he said, " wha pays for a drink o' milk ? " 

 
 1 64 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " I do," said I, " and I shall wake up the good man 
 of the house and give him a penny." 
 
 " Do," said Silver Sand, " and I'll tell ye what ye'll 
 get, and that's twa ounce o' lead drops in aneath your 
 coat-tails for disturbin' the hoose at this time o' nicht. 
 That's what auld Airie gies to young birkies like you 
 that come in graund coats to play l Jook myjo'wi' 
 his lasses. See, that's his window," he went on, " but 
 just be so kind as to let me ahint the midden first, for 
 I'm no fond o' lead draps mysel'." 
 
 He skipped off behind the shelter of a mountainous 
 fastness of some dark material that was piled in the yard. 
 
 " Noo gae on wi' your penny," he cried, " I'll see 
 fair play. Naething like honesty." 
 
 His high spirits made me exceedingly angry. 
 
 " Come away," I cried, " let us have no more tom- 
 foolery. I believe ye juist want to taigle (detain) me 
 here till your fine friend, Hector Faa, the murderer, 
 gets the lass." 
 
 " Taigle ye," he said ; " far frae that, Laird Rathan ; 
 it's yer fine sense o' gentrice that taigles ye — that ye 
 canna tak' a drink o' guid sweet milk till ye hae 
 wakened the goodman o' the hoose frae his bed to 
 introduce ye to the coo ! Hoot awa', I can e'en do 
 that mysel'." 
 
 And with that the madcap (who had the fit upon 
 him) went to the door of the byre, and, lifting his 
 hat with the air of His Majesty's Lion-King-at-Arms, 
 he said — 
 
 "Mistress Crummie Cooshairn, let me mak' ye 
 acquainted wi' the Laird o' Rathan, that did ye the 
 honour to drink a drappie o' yer ain brewing to your 
 good health, and mony o' them, Crummie ! "
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 165 
 
 I turned on my heel and walked away, for I had no 
 words to express my indignation. 
 
 He called after me, " Paitrick, dinna sulk, man. 
 It's no bonny. Tak' a lesson frae this sonsy wife 
 Crummie. She bears nae malice. Hae, Crummie, 
 my lass, there's a handfu' o' girse to brew mair milk, 
 an' there, guidman o' Airieland, is a bawbee to pay 
 for the girse. An' so a's correck, an' we're honest, 
 honest — and gentrice to the back o' that, whilk is a 
 great matter ! " 
 
 Somewhere about the steading I heard a window 
 go up, and a bellowing of ill talk, the purport of 
 which was to ask what night-hawks of not doubtful 
 parentage we were that came crawling and troking 
 about his premises, that he would have the blunder- 
 buss on us in a moment, together with other resource- 
 ful amenities. 
 
 " Guid e'en to ye, Airie," said Silver Sand, crying 
 back from the little narrow stile that led over into a 
 field among trees — "Guid e'en to you, and a' your 
 bonnie lasses. My service to them, and tell them I 
 canna bide the nicht, but I'll caa again sune." 
 
 The roaring of oaths from the window became a 
 very thunderstorm. 
 
 As we went down the banks of a bonny bit burn 
 that flows through a smooth meadow beneath the 
 house, we heard behind us still the wrathful gollying 
 of the great voice yet unappeased. Silver Sand chuckled 
 to himself as if he had done something very clever. 
 
 " What for didna ye stop an' explain," he said. 
 "Ye micht possibly hae juiked (dodged) the blun- 
 derbush and gotten time to pit in a word to satisfy 
 your kittle honour afore he got time to load again."
 
 166 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 But I scorned to say a word to him on the subject. 
 So we went on our journey. 
 
 Now, though these episodes on the way take a long 
 time to tell, and mayhap occupy overly much space, 
 yet they took hardly any time in the doing, so quick 
 was Silver Sand. I do not believe that we were a 
 quarter of an hour about the onstead of Airieland in 
 
 all. 
 
 Now, when I think on the matter at this distance, 
 I cannot sufficiently admire the wonderful foresight 
 and patient kindliness of Silver Sand. These halts I 
 should never have taken willingly, and so in a short 
 time, what with weariness and the want of sleep, I 
 should have worn myself out long before we reached 
 the hill country. 
 
 So we pursued our way, going over a levelish, 
 bo2;gy country, where there was some cultivation, and 
 some cattle in the field. Coming past the farm- of 
 Auchlane I jumped a high dyke to show my agility, 
 for the double draught of Crummie's milk had 
 quickened me very greatly. Also the night was not 
 yet quite set in, though the folk had gone to bed, for 
 it is the custom in Galloway to bed very early. So, as 
 I say, I leapt a stone dyke, but found one side much 
 higher than on the other. I alighted on my feet, but 
 fell forward against something that routed and rose 
 instantly beneath me, throwing me off and running 
 across the field. This gave me a great startle. 
 
 " Did ye think the bit stot was the Foul Thiet 
 himsel' that ye gied that skelloch ! " cried Silver Sand, 
 who had climbed the dyke quietly with Ouharrie. 
 
 I answered that it was not 1 but the stot that made 
 the noise.
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 167 
 
 " It was extraordinarily like you, Laird ! " he 
 said. 
 
 These were the sort of things that used to keep me 
 wondering whether Silver Sand was the best of good 
 company or the most insolent and forward of tinklers. 
 Yet five minutes after he had said such things I would 
 laugh at them in my heart, though I still continued to 
 hold down my head like the sulky dog I was. 
 
 At the poor little hamlet of Brig o' Dee we crossed 
 the river, which looked cold and grey, the night wind 
 ruffling it beneath us. Beyond this we got into a 
 most bleak, unkindly country, and so continued for 
 more than an hour. It was all of wet, marshy peat, 
 with black haggs ; and, what were worse, green, 
 deceitful "quakkin-qua's," covered with a scum that 
 looked like tender young grass, but in which, at the 
 first step, one might sink to the neck. Here and 
 there we came upon some sheep grazing as best they 
 could on the wet, sour grass. Nevertheless it was 
 pleasant and cheery to hear them cropping the grass 
 with short, quick bites, then moving on to another 
 clump. One of them gave a cough, mightily human, 
 as we passed by, just as a man does in church behind 
 his hand so that he may not disturb the worshippers. 
 
 In a little we were among the lochs of Bargatton 
 and Glentoo, dreary stretches of reedy water in the 
 midst of marshy ground, so that in the night it 
 made one shiver to look at them. But ever our feet 
 went onward to the lilt of Silver Sand's song or the 
 rise and fall of Silver Sand's voice, as he told stories of 
 the old Killing days, and the pallid men who had lain 
 in these wildernesses to which we were going before 
 they were utterly given up to the reivers and outlaws.
 
 168 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 In front stalked Quharrie, never coursing about 
 after rabbits and hares like other dogs, even when they 
 popped out just under his nose, but following his 
 master's eye and hand. With his head very high, his 
 sharp ears set forward with a cock like the feather in a 
 Highlandman's bonnet, his legs wide apart as though 
 to guard against sudden surprise, he would run ahead 
 and then stand a moment till we came up. In this 
 manner he scouted in front of his master, so that there 
 was nothing, not even a grouse cock, that was not 
 indicated before we came to it. As we reached the 
 little steading of Drumbreck, where the moss ends in 
 a great flow of black peat, in which are deep and 
 dangerous holes half full of water from former fuel 
 cuttings, Ouharrie stopped and growled. 
 
 Motioning me to stand where I was, Silver Sand 
 passed the dog and went carefully to the dyke to look 
 over. Then he waved to me to come on. It was but 
 a tinkler and his family encamped under three great 
 beeches that grow in the courtyard of the little farm, 
 for Drumbreck has ever been a well-kenned place for 
 the keeping of " gaun bodies." 
 
 " It's just Tyke Lowrie an' his brood," said Silver 
 Sand ; " no harm in them, though a deal on them. 
 The mistress o' Drumbreck is well guided not to let 
 them in amang the sacks in the barn." 
 
 The little village of Clachanpluck, inviting enough 
 to weary limbs, with its whitewashed houses, and 
 trees growing about the little fringes of garden, lay 
 before us, and the curs barked as I went down the 
 long street. At the end, where the roads separated, 
 it was time for Silver Sand and me to part. 
 
 " The Lord keep us both ! " said I, and parted
 
 TO INTRODUCE MISTRESS CRUMMIE. 169 
 
 without shaking hands, yet not so fast but that I 
 heard Silver Sand say " Amen ! " 
 
 I am sure he was a Christian man, but there are 
 many queer Christians in this land of Galloway. 
 Indeed I fear that I am one myself.
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 ON THE TRACK OF THE RAIDERS. 
 
 It had darkened slowly, and now the night was at its 
 prime when I passed down the street of the little 
 clachan. The north wind met me in the face like a 
 wall as I made my way alone on my quest perilous 
 through this hamlet of sleeping folk, stilled under the 
 peace of their cottage eaves of thatch — too poor to be 
 worth the robbing, and numerous enough to render a 
 good account of themselves in case of an attack. 
 
 Now while the wilder spirits of the smugglers and 
 the gypsies attacked the cave for the purposes of which 
 we know, there was a much larger number of both 
 who devoted themselves to the easier work of driving 
 off the cattle of the Maxwells and others of the 
 country, and packing the cargo of the brig upon 
 horses, with the view of clearing the country before 
 the alarm arose. 
 
 They were the safer in this respect that in those 
 days news did not spread with the extraordinary 
 rapidity with which it does now. The dwellings ot 
 men were scattered sparser on the waste. A man 
 might ride a long day among the hills of heather and 
 see not one reeking house or any place where kindly
 
 ON THE TRACK OF THE RAIDERS. 171 
 
 folk dwelt. There was a district of thirty miles square 
 in Carrick, in Galloway, and the moors of the Shire, 
 over whose border never exciseman put his nose, 
 except with a force of red soldiers at his tail, which 
 did not happen once in twenty years. Moreover, the 
 farmers and small proprietors of the day were better 
 content to pay a kind of mail to the hill raiders than 
 be in constant fear of them. 
 
 So long, therefore, as their own cattle were let 
 alone, the bonnet lairds and farmers of Balmaghie and 
 the Glen Kens were little likely to come to blows 
 with the gypsies or the smugglers in defence of other 
 people's flocks and herds. But murder and house- 
 burning were quite different counts, as the outlaws 
 were presently to hear. The chief desire of those 
 who were driving the cattle was that they might get 
 to the Craigencallie and Loch Dee drove-road before 
 the country rose behind them. And this is how they 
 set out from the Craigdarroch beach. 
 
 From the coves by the shore a great number of 
 men came running with the cargo — kegs of spirit, 
 Hollands boxes wrapped about with wheat-straw — 
 strange cases from the Indies, where the Hollanders 
 have many plantations — iron-lined boxes of lace, most 
 precious of all. As many of these as the horses were 
 able to carry were loaded for the northward journey. 
 The rest were taken to pits dug out under the scarps 
 of precipices, or on the sides of the glens, and covered 
 again with green turf. 
 
 So the long train set off", a bevy of wild loons 
 keeping the pack-horses moving with slender pointed 
 goads, cut from the nearest coppice. The horsemen of 
 the smuggling party clattered ahead with great barrels
 
 172 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 slung at each side of their horses, secured under the 
 belly with broad leather straps, and clinched by 
 strength of arm and the leverage of foot against 
 the side of the poor beast — the worst of whose 
 sufferings were past, however, as soon as they were 
 upon the way, for the jolting of the load soon eased 
 the straps and fastenings. 
 
 The smugglers were the jollier of the two parties, 
 for the gypsies had their hands deeper in crime than 
 the Freetraders, having been art and part in the 
 house-burning and the cattle-stealing, and so rode 
 with their necks in danger. But the land smugglers, 
 many of whom had no interest in the affair save to 
 get the goods comfortably stowed, were more than 
 merry, for it was their custom that a cask should 
 be kept free and open for use by the way. And as 
 they went they sang — 
 
 " Where'er we see a bonny lass, we'll caa' as we gae by ; 
 Where'er we meet wi' liquor guiil, we'll drink an we be dry. 
 There's brandy at the Abbeyburn, there's rum at Heston Bay, 
 And we will go a-smuggling afore the break o' day." 
 
 Now we have no further concern with them. They 
 ride out of the story as soon as they cleared the cattle 
 and the raiders who were at the driving of them. 
 As they went the jingling of their horse-harness 
 told the country folk that the Black Riders were 
 abroad, and in the night many a goodwife reached 
 over her hand to feel if her goodman were in his 
 place ; for though none of them objected to the 
 anker of spirit which they would find at the back 
 of the high road dyke the next morning, nor yet 
 failed to place the money for it in a cup in the
 
 ON THE TRACK OF THE RAIDERS. 173 
 
 same retired position, it was not a business that the 
 douce housewives wanted their own goodmen mixed 
 up with. 
 
 But with the cattle drovers the case was different. 
 They could only pick the best and speediest of 
 the stock, and drive it with the horses going on 
 before, and a regiment of half-naked loons from the 
 hills keeping the poor beasts on the trot. If a 
 Galloway cow lagged and threatened to keep back 
 the troop, she received a sharp lash across the nose 
 and was driven into the darkness. Sometimes, how- 
 ever, after a drink at the wayside burn, the terrors 
 of loneliness so pressed upon her that she would 
 come racing after the company, bellowing as loud as 
 she could, and so rejoin the herd. 
 
 As soon, then, as I had passed the little forge at the 
 lower end of Clachanpluck, where there are a great 
 number of trees planted, and beneath which a pleasant 
 burnie was making a singing noise, I became aware 
 that I must be close upon the track of the stolen 
 cattle. The road was deep trampled, and in the 
 softer places there were many signs of a large herd 
 having passed only an hour or two before. 
 
 It was now that I felt my lack of Silver Sand, my 
 companion, for he could have told the number, con- 
 dition, and intentions of the herd and their drivers, 
 and even how fast they were going from the marks on 
 the road. I had no such skill. But on the other hand 
 I have always had a considerable idea of my own luck 
 and resource in emergency. So that on the whole 
 it was with a beating heart, but with a certain sense 
 of elation, that I went forward along the road. 
 
 The track ran between two rows of trees — beech
 
 174 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 for the most part, as I knew by the dry clash and 
 rattle of their leaves when the winds brushed them 
 against each other. I could see over the low hedges 
 into the meadows, and a bloom of the fair blonde 
 flower that is called Queen of the Meadow looked 
 over and nodded at me, which I thought to be very 
 early for the season, being but the end of May. 
 
 As I went on an extraordinary thought came over 
 me, that I had come this way before with May 
 Maxwell, though very well I knew that it was not so. 
 Yet the phantasy so took hold on me, that as I footed 
 it I looked from side to side, saying within myself, 
 " Here she and I plucked the honeysuckle and the 
 bindweed in the hedge. Here we sat and wove them 
 into crowns on this low bridge of turf. Up this 
 bramble-interlaced brae we wandered, our arms en- 
 twined." Yet all the time I knew full well that never 
 had my eyes seen these places before. Though there 
 was no reason why the thought should so pleasure me, 
 yet I do not deny that it did comfort me in an especial 
 degree ; so that I continued to walk with satisfaction 
 along the highway — such as it was — till I came to the 
 side of the long narrow loch that is called Grenoch, 
 which is yet not the same as the larger Loch Grannoch 
 that lies among the granite hills at the head end of 
 Girthon parish. 
 
 But soon I was meeting the backward-straying 
 cattle too often to make it very safe for me to pursue 
 my way further along the road. I mounted, therefore, 
 to the moorland above the loch, where, from the ridge, 
 I had a lookout in all directions, keeping the crown 
 of the heather under my feet all the way. 
 
 So now I can see myself speeding along, like a beast
 
 ON THE TRACK OF THE RAIDERS. 175 
 
 that has had both drink and victual, pretty brisk with 
 the thought of coming back this way again with May 
 Maxwell at my side. Which, indeed, I never did — at 
 least, not till long years afterwards, when all things 
 were changed. But the feeling did me good at the 
 time. 
 
 I looked to the priming of my pistols more than 
 once, as well as the dim light would let me. There 
 was a beast routing (roaring) at the foot of the 
 Duchrae Craigs, where the road kept away to the 
 right straight for the old Brig of the Black Water. 
 The cattle were upon the road immediately before me 
 now. I could hear them quite plainly. A low and 
 continuous moaning came backward upon the north 
 wind, mixed with sharper noises of the shouting of 
 men and the barking of dogs. It was but seldom that 
 I heard these, and they were not, I think, the gypsies' 
 dogs, which are trained to hunt silently, but dogs that 
 had been gathered up of their own accord from the 
 farm-towns on the way. These did not bark long, 
 however, either falling behind or getting a knife in 
 their ribs from a gypsy driver that silenced their yelping 
 for ever. As at this point the drove-road took over the 
 Folds Hill, I desired to get upon the river side of the 
 herd, to escape being driven upon the moors and away 
 from the bridge, so that it was necessary for me to 
 cross the road. This I did at the little hut which I 
 now know to be the farm of the Clownie — a ruin of 
 walls only when last I went that way. I made no 
 haste, thinking myself safe, being so far behind, but 
 stood at my ease on the dusky white road with dark 
 patches upon it, looking both ways.
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 THE GREAT FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE-HEAD. 
 
 But I had not stood long there when a voice from the 
 dyke foot, by the well of excellent water that lies by 
 the path over to the Duchrae, cried to me to stand or 
 take the consequences. Though these were not con- 
 descended upon, I elected to take them, and so ran 
 whatever I could towards the loch, which I could see 
 of a dull red colour beneath me. 
 
 Apparently the consequences spoken of were up a 
 gun-barrel at the time, and consisted of two ounces of 
 lead, for " Crack ! " went a musket, and something 
 whistled like a bum-clock 1 past me. Putting my hand 
 down, my finger encountered a hole in the flap of my 
 blue coat. It was warm at the edges, and appeared to 
 be clean cut. In a moment I was in the heart of a 
 saugh-bush (willow), where I sat giving thanks to 
 God for my escape. Now I should have been better 
 pleased with a preserving Providence if the bullet had 
 gone through my breeks, for I had more pairs of 
 them, and besides, they were only of hodden grey 
 when all was said and done. But I had only this 
 one coat, and that of fine blue cloth. 
 
 1 Dor-beetle. 
 176
 
 GREAT FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE-HEAD. 177 
 
 The saugh-bush by the waterside was safe, but 
 ignominious. From its depths I could see nothing, 
 and I knew that every moment the dumb, hard-driven 
 herd of beasts was drawing away in the direction of 
 the bridge, and I not there to cross before them. But 
 for that unlucky business of standing on the road I 
 might have done it easily, for I was deceived by the 
 great turn which the way makes at Parkhill towards 
 the Folds of Tornorrach Wood. It is always thus 
 with running after short cuts and taking off of 
 corners to make new ways. When will I learn to 
 walk in the old and be content ? Possibly in the next 
 world, when I shall not be able — for there, as we are 
 told upon authority, all things shall be new. 
 
 As I went the light wind bore a strange, low, con- 
 tinuous moaning to my ears. From the saugh-bush I 
 went slowly along the waterside till I lost the track 
 of the cattle. Then, when the loch had narrowed 
 into a lane of running water, I struck up through the 
 tangled brush of the thick wood which is called the 
 Duchrae Bank, where many hazels grow, to the top 
 of the hill that looks toward Bennan and the valley 
 of the Ken. Day was just beginning to show, which 
 it does in early May about two hours before the sun 
 rises. The cold grey of the sky became the colour of 
 a Water of Dee pearl — silken grey shot with quivering 
 rays of white. 
 
 The moaning grew as I ascended into a hoarse, 
 tumultuous routing. There they are at last ! It is so 
 dark that I can only guess at their position, but I can 
 see that the head of the column is making for the 
 bridge. The riders ride before, their heads low between 
 their shoulders, glancing forward. The whippers-in 
 
 12
 
 178 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 run tirelessly on the flanks, dressing the uneven files. 
 The moaning of the herd comes to me on the wind 
 like the crying of a single mighty beast in pain. It 
 is pitiful and heart-touching. 
 
 The Black Water looms dark — the bridge a grey 
 purple arch spanning blackness. 
 
 But a row of sparks flashes out at the bridge-head. 
 " Crack ! crack ! crack ! " go the guns. There is a 
 sudden turmoil in the densely packed herd. The 
 horsemen at the head of the column form up, and 
 from them too the red sparks, with the clang a little 
 behind them, spit angrily out. 
 
 " Hurrah ! " I cry aloud, not knowing what I did, 
 for my friends are there, and at that bridge-head. 
 They are fighting it to turn the robbers. Perhaps 
 Hector and May are among them. Fool that I was 
 that I did not hasten and get before them ! 
 
 Ah, there they are at it ! Hark to the rattle of the 
 guns, the splutter of the pistols — how they go ! I 
 find myself running forward at full speed, keeping 
 close to the water, and alongside the Holland Isle. I 
 wonder as I run, if I shall ever come there when the 
 nuts are ripe, for I have ever heard that it is a famous 
 place for them. In a little I am abreast of the packed 
 and frightened cattle. The outlaws are playing a bold 
 game. Their mounted fighting men are pushing 
 along the front. The silent, eager dogs and the 
 limber gypsy laddies are dressing the sides of the 
 column, which, indeed, is naturally held by the very 
 formation of the ground — the rocky glen of the Black 
 Water being in front, and the deep, dark lane of 
 Grenoch on the other side. The unmounted men 
 who are without guns keep circulating along the rear.
 
 GREAT FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE-HEAD. 179 
 
 Between them and the bridge there is a lowing, 
 roaring, horn-tossing sea of wild cattle, the best and 
 the strongest in Galloway. 
 
 I get down by the water's edge, for I am pushing 
 on all the time. I hear my feet crash on the shingles. 
 I fall on my face among the hard stones before I am 
 aware. That is my safety, for with the instinct of a 
 sea-bred boy I feel for the water. It is within ten 
 feet of me, roaring deep. With my belt-thong of 
 leather I fasten my napkin, filled with my powder- 
 flask and pistols, upon the top of my head. The strap 
 is caught in my teeth, and without a moment's delay 
 I push off. Though I can wade nearly all the way, 
 at last I am swept off my feet. Ten strokes, however, 
 take me over, and I stand shivering on the north side 
 of the Black Water. 
 
 But my powder and my pistols are dry, though I 
 myself am streaming wet. Crying my name, to let 
 the Maxwells know not to shoot, in a moment I 
 am at the bridge-end and among them. As I had 
 imagined, the defenders are my friends, with other 
 ten men whom they had gathered as they came along, 
 mostly kinsmen of their own, Maxwells and Sproats, 
 from the coastlands. Kennedy Maxwell, who was the 
 one I came nearest, had only time to say — 
 
 "Dinna throw a shot away, Patrick. We're 
 turning them. This is the third time they have 
 come at us." 
 
 Even as he spoke the mounted men did come on 
 again, but a storm of balls tore through their ranks, 
 and set the horses plunging and the cattle wild with 
 terror. So again they were driven back. The men 
 hung half over the parapet of the bridge and kneeled
 
 180 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 with their muskets upon it, yelling with challenge in 
 their voices. 
 
 "We have them," cried Will Maxwell; "we'll not 
 let one o' the cowardly crew escape ! " 
 
 The word was ill-chosen, the rejoicing premature. 
 Again the mounted outlaws drew off* to the rear, and 
 for a space only the dogs kept the column within its 
 lines. 
 
 Gradually their front widened, as though to flank 
 the bridge and make for the water. We spread out 
 to meet them. The others were soon blazing away, 
 but the gypsies were far behind, and I saw small 
 service in maddening the poor dumb beasts with pistol 
 balls. 
 
 Yet it was an amazing sight — Dee Bridge that 
 night, with its high-arched span — men standing two 
 deep in the centre of it ; men stride-leg on the parapet 
 of it ; gunshots cracking, pistols spitting. Then in 
 front of us the white, pitiful eyes of a myriad (so they 
 seemed) of wild cattle — maimed and tortured they 
 knew not why, sending up a great routing of dumb 
 prayer to the God of all ill-used, over-driven beasts 
 that never did a sin. Beyond these the dark forms 
 of the mounted outlaws contriving new plots in the 
 rear. 
 
 I wanted the Maxwells to charge and break the 
 column of cattle, but Will Maxwell overruled, saying, 
 " No ; we will hold the bridge." So the bridge was 
 held. 
 
 Then suddenly a great fierce light arose in the rear. 
 The outlaws had kindled a fire, and the red light 
 burned up, filtering through the ranks of the cattle, 
 and projecting great horned shadows against the
 
 GREAT FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE-HEAD. 181 
 
 clouds. For a few minutes this picture stood like a 
 painted show, with the Dee Water running dark 
 and cool beneath — a kind of Circe's Inferno where 
 the beasts are tortured for ever. 
 
 Two half-naked fiends ran alongside the column or 
 cattle, carrying what was apparently a pot of blazing 
 fire, which they threw in great ladlefuls on the backs 
 of the packed beasts that stood frantically heaving 
 their heads up to the sky. Then in a moment from 
 all sides arose deafening yells. Fire lighted and ran 
 along the hides of the rough red Highland and black 
 Galloway cattle. Desperate men sprang on their backs, 
 yelling. Dogs drove them forward. With one wild, 
 irresistible, universal rush the maddened column of 
 beasts drave at the bridge, and swept us aside like 
 chaff. 
 
 Never have I seen anything so passing strange and 
 uncanny as this tide of wild things, frantic with pain 
 and terror, whose billows surged irresistibly to the 
 bridge-head. It was a dance of demons. Between 
 me and the burning backs of the cattle there rose a 
 gigantic Highlander with fiery eyes and matted front. 
 On his back was a black devilkin that waved a torch 
 with his hands, scattering contagious fire over the 
 furious herd. The rush of the maddened beasts swept 
 us off" the bridge as chafF is driven before the wind. 
 There was no question of standing I shot off" my 
 pistols into the mass. I might as well have shot them 
 into the Black Water. I declare some of the yelling 
 devils were laughing as they rode, like fiends yammer- 
 ing and girning when Hell wins a soul. It is hard 
 to make any who did not see it, believe in what we 
 saw that night. Indeed, in this warm and heartsome
 
 i8z THE RAIDERS. 
 
 winter room, with the storm without, and the wife in 
 bed crying at me to put by the writing and let her 
 get to sleep, it is well-nigh impossible to believe that 
 any of these things came to pass within the space of 
 a few years. Yet so it was. I who write it down 
 was there. These eyes saw the tossing, fiery waves 
 of maddened creatures that ran forward seeking death 
 to escape from torture, while the reek of their burning 
 went up to heaven. 
 
 I looked again. Beneath at the ford I saw a 
 thousand wild cattle with their thick hair blazing 
 with fire, their tails in the air, tossing wide-arched 
 horns. I saw the steam of their nostrils going up 
 like smoke as they surged through the water, a 
 hundred mad Faas and Marshalls on their backs 
 yelling like fiends of the pit. In a score of pulse 
 beats there was not a beast that had not forced the 
 bridge or crossed the ford. We who defended were 
 broken and scattered ; some of us swept down by 
 the water, powder damp, guns trampled shapeless — 
 dispirited, annihilated, we that had been so sure of 
 victory. 1 
 
 1 But before I tell of other things let me add how the outlaws scattered 
 Greek fire over their cattle, using unwittingly a stratagem of the ancient 
 world. In a field by the waterside, within a hundred yards of where the 
 column halted, were the Duchrae Ewebuchts, and there were kept in store 
 pitch and oil for sheep dipping and cattle marking, of which, in some 
 devilish fashion of their own, the outlaws, skilled in such horrid chemistry, 
 made their cruel fiery brew.
 
 CHAPTER XXL 
 
 SAMMLE TAMSON FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 
 
 When I came to myself (for indeed I was mad as the 
 beasts themselves while the turmoil lasted), I found 
 myself tossed out on the heather from a bull's back 
 that had landed me there. My hands were burned 
 and black where I had slapped the poor beast's fell 
 to put out the flames. But for all that, it had not 
 known me from one of its persecutors. I think the 
 mad impulse of the herd did not arise so much from 
 pain as from the sudden unreasoning fury, which at 
 any moment may seize a large crowd of half-wild 
 cattle in presence of the unknown. Once there was 
 a herd of cows in Parton, up Peathill way, that ate a 
 man — chased him and ate him bodily. Their reason 
 was, because the man belonged to a different denomi- 
 nation. But that is not my story. For that tale you 
 must ask one of the red Wardhaughs. It comes not 
 into my book, though I believe the man was a cousin 
 of the Mars halls. 
 
 How I came on the beast's back, unless it were to 
 save myself from being trampled under foot, I know 
 not ; but hither upon this shaggy charger I had come 
 so far in. safety, and now found myself between Moss- 
 
 t8 3
 
 1 84 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 dale and the Stroan Loch pitched out upon the heather, 
 falling almost upon a grouse cock that had heard only 
 the blatter of a bullock's heels, and no doubt wondered 
 where the blundering beast was coming to. His cock- 
 ship got something of a surprise, I am thinking, when 
 the enemy of his kind was shot out upon the top of 
 him with pistols shining in his belt. At any rate, he 
 rose with a strong protest of " Geck-kek-kek-a-kek ! " 
 that such a deceit should be played upon him — as 
 quiet a self-respecting bird as ever was. 
 
 In a few minutes I was chapping (knocking) at 
 the door of Mossdale house, that sits all its lone on 
 a pleasant braeface looking to the sun rising ; and as 
 the sun was so engaged at the time, I thought the 
 long, low, whitewashed cottage a picture exceedingly 
 quaint. There was a man just coming to the door 
 with a wooden platter of hens' meat in his hands. 
 His eyes were red with sleep, and as he came his 
 jaws opened like a rat-trap, for he was gaunting 
 (yawning) as if he had not had nearly enough of his 
 bed. 
 
 " Good morning, guidman," said I. 
 
 " And ye hae brocht the tap o' the mornin' wi' you, 
 freen'," he said, but not at all suspiciously, passing by 
 me with the hens' meat. I stood at the door, not 
 venturing in. The man, who was built long and 
 thin with a stoop in the shoulders, opened a little door 
 in a wooden erection of boards. A hen or two with 
 many chickens came tumultuously out, making that 
 scratching noise which tells of an empty inside among 
 all the hen-tribe, as much as to say, " I'm as toom 
 (empty) as a whistle ! Are ye going to be long with 
 that meat ? "
 
 SAMMLE FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 185 
 
 The man put down the little trencher and stood 
 over them with a long wand, putting back the greedy 
 and making room for the poor, puny, backward 
 ones, that could not elbow forward with their short, 
 callow chicken wings. The scene was one of most 
 exceeding peace, and affected me strangely, having yet 
 in my ears that wild riot at the bridge-head, and the 
 sound of that mighty bellowing, like the roaring of all 
 the bulls in Bashan. 
 
 " It's been a fine nicht ! " said he. " Whaur 
 travelled ye frae this mornin', freen', so early. Lay 
 ye a' nicht at the Duchrae ? " 
 
 "'Deed," said I, frankly — at least with more frank- 
 ness than I had intended when I chappit (knocked) 
 at the door, " I slept but little, for there were a feck 
 o' wild men on the road yestreen, and peacefu' folk 
 were better to keep a calm sough." 
 
 " I'm wi' ye there," he said, scraping up some of 
 the daich) or hen meat, that had fallen on the ground, 
 and giving it to a peeping, peevish little chicken 
 that came complaining and pecking about his feet. 
 " Neither troke nor traffic wi' the like o' them. For 
 me I keep oot o' their gate." 
 
 " Heard ye nocht yestreen ava' ? " I asked, eyeing 
 him pretty carefully, for my own back was to the sun. 
 
 "I was thinkin'," he said, "that Dee Water had 
 come doon in the nicht, and that I heard the falls roarin'. 
 I thocht I wad try the fishin' in the mornin'. I 
 micht get a fine fish." 
 
 " Ye micht catch a four-leggit sawmon, wi' horns," 
 said I. 
 
 " Say ye sae ? " said the man. " Then Sammle 
 Tamson will be for bidin' close by his ain door cheek."
 
 1 86 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 For the first time there came a shade of suspicion 
 over his face as he glanced at me from head to foot. 
 
 " Ye're brawly airmed, freen, to be so early astir." 
 
 He looked at my pistols and silver-mounted whinger. 
 
 " I'm an honest man," said I, reassuringly. 
 
 " Likely," said he that had called himself Samuel 
 Tamson, " there's a feck o' honest men gaun the road. 
 I never met wi' yin that gied himsel' the contrar' 
 name." 
 
 But nevertheless he viewed me again with a some- 
 what reassured look. 
 
 " Ye'll no be a Faa ? " he asked, in a sly, pawky 
 manner. 
 
 " Na," says I, " I'm nae Faa, thank Heaven ! " 
 
 " So I was jaloosin'," answered he. Then he added 
 reflectively, " The Faas are a weel-favoured race when's 
 a's said an' dune." 
 
 He looked at me still longer. 
 
 " Ye kind o' favour the Macatericks — lang an' flail- 
 jointed, but your mouth's ower big to be a Macaterick, 
 an' nane o' the Marshalls hae turned-up noses ! " 
 
 Which (I may remark) neither had I. Sammle 
 Tamson seemed reassured. But he still had native 
 caution. 
 
 " Ye'll hae a name o' your ain," said he ; " let us 
 hear it." 
 
 " My name is Patrick Heron ! " said I, a little 
 nettled at the man's patent suspicion, though indeed I 
 would never have so much as looked at any one coming 
 in such a case to my own door. 
 
 " Ye'll no be ony freen' to John Heron o' Rathan 
 Isle ? " 
 
 " I am his son," I replied, briefly.
 
 SAMMLE FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 187 
 
 <c 
 
 D'ye tell me so, O man " said Sammle, yet 
 
 seemed disinclined to take any action beyond the 
 exclamation. He still stood with the empty trough 
 of hens' meat in his hand. A voice from the house 
 cried behind us, sharply — 
 
 " What's a' that cleckin' aboot ? Am I to wait a' 
 day for you to licht my fire, Sammle Tamson ? Was 
 it for this that I marriet you, an' me had so many 
 better offers ? I wish to peace I had never left 
 Parton ! " 
 
 The voice was sharp, but by no means unkindly. 
 On the contrary, it liked me well. 
 
 " There's a young man here, guidwife," said Sammle 
 Tamson at the door, leaning from the outside to put 
 his head within, as one might .set the bending top of 
 a fishing-rod into an upper window. 
 
 " Fetch him ben, and let us see what like he is," 
 said the voice. 
 
 Sammle silently motioned to me to put down my 
 pistols and whinger on the window-sill without, which 
 indeed I would not have done on his account ; but 
 the voice from within was extraordinarily reassuring. 
 Then he stepped ben before me, and I followed. 
 Hardly had I got inside when I would have been out 
 again, for I caught sight, for the first time in my life, 
 of a goodwife in some disarray sitting on the edge of 
 the settle engaged in completing her attire. I had fled 
 on the instant, but the voice said, encouragingly — 
 
 " Hoot awa' ; sit ye doon, young man " 
 
 « 
 
 But, wife " began Sammle Tamson, in an ex- 
 postulating tone. 
 
 " Haud your tongue, guidman. I'm nane so unsonsy 
 yet, though I be auld eneuch to be the laddie's mither.
 
 188 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Ye wad think I was a quean in a cuttie sark to hear 
 ye. Be na so nice wi' Eppie Tamson." 
 
 " He says he's a son o' the auld laird o' Rathan's." 
 This came sulkily and somewhat grudgingly from 
 Sammle. 
 
 " Come by here an' let me look at ye, laddie ! " 
 commanded the dame, from the bedside. 
 
 I had been standing modestly with my face to the 
 window, looking over the wide moss, now bright with 
 the red of the sun rising. I turned at the word with 
 some diffidence. But the dame was already in her 
 drugget short-gown, which she was busy buckling at 
 the waist. She was a plump matron of forty-five, 
 with a pleasant apple-red in her cheeks, and very 
 bright blue eyes. Even while I turned she took her 
 feet, one at a time, into her hand, and shod them 
 with a shoe neater than I had ever seen on the foot 
 of a Galloway wife — one of whose wonted household 
 gods is the " bauchle," or shapeless slipper, often with 
 a "hoshen," or loose double stocking, within. Alto- 
 gether Eppie Tamson was a dame both douce and 
 sonsy — a desirable friend, as I knew from her voice. 
 
 Sammle Tamson was blowing up the fire — on his 
 knees, with his back extraordinarily high in the air, 
 and his head so close to the bars that it seemed 
 as though he were endeavouring to crawl between 
 them. And he did not seem much over stout to 
 succeed. 
 
 So I went biddably enough up to Mistress Tamson, 
 who, rising from the oak settle on which she had 
 been sitting, took me by the shoulders, led me across 
 the room to the window, and looked at me a moment 
 in a way which made me blush. I blushed still more
 
 SAMMLE FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 189 
 
 when she took me fairly round the neck and gave me 
 a sound kiss, saying — 
 
 " Aye, laddie, what wad I no hae gi'en for a boy 
 like you ! Get up, there, affyour knees, lang Sammle 
 Tamson ; ye canna even licht that fire. Ye are but a 
 feckless lown. Lat me at it ! " 
 
 Sammle rose in a discouraged way, as one that was 
 not appreciated in life, and proceeded to put some 
 water in the porridge pot. 
 
 " Gang to the well for fresh," 'his wife flung at him 
 over her shoulder as she puffed and blew. 
 
 " But I brocht in fresh yestreen late," he said, com- 
 plainingly. 
 
 His wife rose off her knees rapidly. Like a flash 
 Sammle ran to the back of the door, and seized a 
 couple of bright water-cans. He was making out of 
 the door with them when his wife came at him with 
 the besom shank. Sammle guarded himself instinc- 
 tively with the cans, and the stick rattled harmlessly 
 on the tin. Yet he did not smile as he hurried down 
 the path, nor did his wife fling a single word after 
 him. It seemed entirely a piece of routine. 
 
 " Saw ye ever sic a man ? " queried the dame, as 
 she returned to the fire. " He canna do ocht but he 
 maun stand and talk and c argie-bargie ' as lang. And 
 that thochtless and unmindful that he can hardly be 
 lippened to do onything but feed the hens " — here she 
 paused ; then, as if something had been called to her 
 mind, she added — " if that ! " 
 
 "Just step to the door," she continued, after another 
 pause, and see gin he has gane to the well. He 
 generally gangs to the midden for worms for his 
 fishin' when he's sent for water," she explained.
 
 190 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I looked and saw Sammle Tamson standing by the 
 well, emptying the water out of the cans. I came 
 in and reported accordingly. 
 
 "Aye," said his wife, "sic a man — Lord, sic a man ! 
 It's juist mortal like him. He wad never think o' 
 emptying yestreen's water at the door here. He bood 
 (must) carry it to the well and empty it there. It's 
 a mercy he did even that. The mornin' afore last, ken 
 ye what he did ? He took the water-cans to the well 
 wi' the water that had been standin' a' nicht, and he 
 brocht them back as they gaed awa', with the selfsame 
 water in them ! " 
 
 The goodwife paused. 
 
 " But he catched it for that ! " she said, righteously. 
 
 " But he canna mak' ony mistake this time," I 
 said. 
 
 "I dinna ken — I dinna ken ! " she said, shaking her 
 head. " It's barely possible ; but gin it be possible 
 ava' to mak' a mistak', Sammle Tamson's the man to 
 mak' it." 
 
 The fire was blazing up the chimney now, and the 
 house of Mossdale, on its sunny braeface, was very 
 cheerful. I saw a prospect of porridge. 
 
 My heart was opened. I began to tell, of my own 
 accord, all my story to the good dame. She heard me 
 with constant expressions of sympathy and pity, stand- 
 ing with the porridge spurtle in her hand in the middle 
 of the floor, while the water in the pot steamed away 
 unregarded. 
 
 I told more of my story. 
 
 " Say ye sae ! Dear sirce — to think on that ! An' 
 the wull cats burned the hoose " 
 
 I told still more.
 
 SAMMLE FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 191 
 
 (.'. 
 
 An' ye focht them in the cave for the sake o' the 
 lass. My word, but she'll be a prood lass. Lovenenty 
 me ! but she'll hae gi'en ye anither kind o' a kiss than 
 an auld wife like me." 
 
 I said " Not so," but went on with my tale. 
 
 " The Almichty preserve's a'," cried Eppie. " An' 
 the misleared heather-cat ran aff wi' the bit lass, an' 
 noo ye're seekin' her. Heard ye ever the like o' that ! 
 My man shall gang an' help you. Oh, that he war 
 ony guid ! Gin I had a pair o' breeks, I declare but 
 I wad gang wi' ye mysel' ! An' ye hae nae mither, 
 ye tell me. Puir laddie ! puir laddie ! " 
 
 The white apron went up to the eyes that were not 
 merry any more, and she took me in her arms and 
 kissed me again. 
 
 Then she ran to the door, and cried out loud, 
 " Sammle Tamson, ye muckle sloyt, come hame wi' 
 the water this meenit, or ye shall get ' Nickie Ben ' 
 frae your Jo Janet ! " 
 
 Through the window I could see Samuel Tamson 
 standing gazing moonstruck at the well. 
 
 "Ye great moidered (dazed) nowt ye, d'ye think 
 that this is miracle mornin', an' that the guid well- 
 water is gaun to turn into wine ? " 
 
 Samuel recovered his cans in haste and started for 
 home. 
 
 His wife saw his legs beginning to move like com- 
 passes, and then, thinking all was at last well, she came 
 back in to the fire. She said no word of good or bad 
 as Samuel came within the door and set down his cans 
 behind it, with a look of self-righteousness which did 
 one good to see. 
 
 Eppie took the great tankard from the shelf and
 
 192 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 went to get it filled with the fresh, cool water from the 
 well. She thrust her dish into the nearest can. It 
 struck the bottom with a hollow sound. In great 
 surprise she looked within. 
 
 The can was empty and dry. 
 
 It was too much. Iniquity such as this was far 
 beyond besom shanks. She gave her husband but one 
 look that would have speaned (weaned) a foal. Then 
 with great politeness, she turned to me and asked if 1 
 would be so kind as to fetch a rake of water from the 
 well. 
 
 When I was gone on my errand, my heart was wae 
 for the poor man within. I expected that I should 
 have to collect the fragments on my return. 
 
 But what really happened I know not, for when I 
 came back Sammle was sitting on the wooden bench 
 in the corner of the fireplace with an extraordinarily 
 subdued face, and his wife was standing, silent also, by 
 the inglenook. 
 
 It was Sammle who looked up first. 
 
 " It's fine caller water," he said, " and a nice heart- 
 some walk i' the mornin' to gie ye an appetite for yer 
 porritch — it's pleasant to fess in the water." 
 
 But his wife said no word j she only stirred in the 
 meal. 
 
 In a few minutes there was a great reeking dish of 
 porridge on the table — the delightsomest of scenery to 
 a famished man. 
 
 Then as soon as I had finished Eppie came to me 
 and said, " Noo, afF wi' yer claes, into my warm bed, 
 an' get ye a sleep for four hours, at the least." 
 
 " But," I urged, " I dare not lose a moment. I 
 maun tak' the hills for Loch Enoch this very instant."
 
 SAMMLE FETCHES A RAKE OF WATER. 193 
 
 " Ye'll do no siccan thing. I ken the look o' a 
 laddie sickening for trouble. Ye'll do as Eppie Tarn- 
 son bids ye in her ain hoose of Mossdale. Better to 
 lose four hours than lose the lass. Ye hae had nae 
 sleep for twa nichts, and ye'll never see Loch Enoch 
 or your May if ye carry on as ye are doing." 
 
 All the while she was unbuttoning my coat and 
 waistcoat as if she had been my own mother, which 
 I thought a strange thing — but a moment after it 
 seemed perfectly natural to me. 
 
 " Ye see I hae nae bairns o' my ain ! " she said for 
 all explanation, which somehow, perhaps because I 
 was fair dead with sleep, seemed perfectly competent 
 reasoning. 
 
 I think I was asleep before I was out of her hands k 
 At least I have no memory of my head ever touching 
 the pillow. I was rising up, up — on warm, white, fleecy 
 clouds — up, up, till I put out my hands to keep from 
 being squeezed flat against the arch of the blue sky. I 
 saw angels. I remember what they are like. There 
 are two kinds of them. One pattern has merry eyes 
 and white teeth, with sunny curls cropped short like a 
 boy's. The others are about forty-five, very buxom, 
 and are all named Eppie. I did not hear the name of 
 the first sort. 
 
 13
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE TAMSON. 
 
 It is a strange thing that when you are very tired 
 folk will never let you sleep five minutes. You have 
 noticed that. So have I. As soon as you drop asleep, 
 in a quarter of an hour or less they are at you, saying 
 that it is some frankly impossible time, and that you 
 must get up. 
 
 As I lay asleep I heard some one say, about a million 
 miles away (or maybe more), that it was eleven o'clock 
 of the day. I turned over, for this was no concern of 
 mine. 
 
 Somebody said, a little nearer this time — not over a 
 thousand miles away, " Poor laddie ! anither half-hour 
 will no hurt him." 
 
 So I turned over again and went to sleep for a year. 
 
 But the contrariness of things is such that in less than 
 three moments (and short ones) some one had taken 
 me in a pair of strong arms — comfortable things too — 
 and was raising me gently up. Angels again ; but the 
 warm, fleecy clouds were better even than these strong 
 arms. 
 
 "My laddie, sorrow am I to wakken ye, but it's 
 
 J 94
 
 1 GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE. 195 
 
 chappin' twal, an' the denner's ready, an' the guidman 
 is ready likewise to talc' ye to the Wolf's Slock, that 
 is your best road to Loch Dee. He kens that gin he 
 disna tak' ye safe, he need never more show his face 
 at Mossdale or caa Eppie Tamson his ain guidwife ! " 
 
 I sat up. The house was running round about in 
 a breathless kind of whirling silence, as if the very 
 plates on the dresser were waiting for me to speak, 
 and I had nothing to say. 
 
 Wakening from a deep sleep in a strange house is 
 the eeriest of things. I do not think that Lazarus 
 had any different feeling when he awoke after his four 
 days in the tomb with that big thruch stone covering 
 him in. 
 
 Eppie helped me on with my things as she had 
 helped me off, with the same air of having been my 
 mother in a former existence. It was so wonderful 
 to me, who had been a man's bairn all the days of my 
 life, to have some one to lift my socks and undo the 
 tags of my boots. 
 
 While she was bent over me in this way, once 
 actually tying my shoe, I saw Samuel Tamson lift his 
 head and give a look at her, both wistful and pitying, 
 though I could not for the life of me understand why 
 — his being the need of pity, to my thinking. 
 
 So being dressed, there on the table was dinner ; 
 and ere I sat down I noticed that my coat was neatly 
 pieced and mended where the bullet had cut through 
 the night before, at the Clownie dykeside, when I ran 
 headlong into the saugh bush by the waterside. This 
 pleased me as much as anything. Also that my 
 clothes were clean brushed and exceedingly neat and 
 snod.
 
 i 9 6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I was about to thank her, but she cut me short. 
 
 "Get your denner, laddie, and see and no file (dirty) 
 your claes. I hae had siccan a wark wi' them." 
 
 " I am sorry to pit you to so muckle inconveni- 
 ence," said I, politely. 
 
 " Havers ! ' inconvenience,' quo' he, the boy wants 
 wit. Glad and proud am I to do what little I can for 
 your mither's son." 
 
 " Did you ken my mither ? " I asked, for my father 
 had spoken but little of her, and I would gladly have 
 heard more. 
 
 "Na, it's a way of speaking just," said Eppie 
 Tamson ; " but I ken her son, and if ever there was a 
 laddie needin' somebody to look after him, it's that 
 same callant. Oh, but ye need that lass sair aboot the 
 auld Isle o' Rathan. Guid keep ye and help ye to 
 get her gin she be worthy o' ye. Gin ye win her 
 oot o' the gleds' claws, she's no gang hame withoot 
 a ring on her finger, or my name's no Eppie." 
 
 After dinner she had a great number of directions 
 to give to her husband, who said not a word, but only 
 looked at her and me time about in the same extra- 
 ordinary wistful and mournful way. Then she gave 
 me my pistols. They were cleaned and oiled, loaded 
 and primed. 
 
 I was about to thank her again for having put them 
 to rights, when she said, " Na, no me — I wadna touch 
 the nasty things. It was him that did them, and I 
 howp to your satisfaction ? " , 
 
 I hastened to assure her. 
 
 " It's as weel," said Mistress Tamson. 
 
 Then she pressed on me a fine engraved silver flask, 
 which she said she had gotten from, the Laird of
 
 I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE. 197 
 
 Parton when she married, for that she had been a 
 servant in the big house there. 
 
 " It's fu' o' the best. Tou carry it ! " she said, 
 pointedly. 
 
 Also she had scones and oatcake done up with fine 
 bacon ham between the slices in a toothsome manner 
 I had never seen before, but which she had no doubt 
 learned in the kitchens of the great. 
 
 As I went out she asked if I had any money. I 
 showed her Silver Sand's handful, and she was in a 
 manner satisfied. 
 
 " Aweel ! " she said, with a kind of disappointment, 
 that told me as plainly as large print that she had meant 
 to supply me also with that, had I been in need of it, 
 which made me grateful all the same. 
 
 Then when she bade me good-bye, after giving me a 
 fine hazel staff with an iron shod on it, she burst out 
 crying like a bairn and went indoors without speaking, 
 shutting to the door. 
 
 But we had not got our feet off the little green loan- 
 ing that goes towards the great hill of Cairn Edward, 
 before Eppie came after us again with something 
 bright in her hand. 
 
 "I brocht this," she said; "it micht be useful to ye." 
 
 It was a brass prospect glass, very short, but as 
 thick as my wrist. It was of many draws, all shutting 
 up into one, and closed with brass caps at both ends. 
 
 I did not want to take so many things from her, and 
 began to say so. But I saw her husband motioning 
 me to be silent from behind her back. 
 
 Following the direction of my eyes (for I have not 
 the art of looking without seeming to look that some 
 folk have), she caught him in the act.
 
 198 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Gar him talc' it," she said. 
 
 " Ye had better " said Sammle, feebly. 
 
 So I put the glass in my tail-pocket, where, to tell 
 the truth, it was an extraordinary weight, and as I 
 feared at the time of but little use. 
 
 Then, standing there before me on the heather (that 
 was not yet full in bloom, but only brown and purple 
 black with little dots and dashes of living green among 
 it), this woman, whom I had never seen before that 
 morning, made me promise, if I were alive, to come 
 this way as soon as I got clear. 
 
 " Mind you," she said, " gin ye're no here by 
 Wednesday, I'll come amang the gypsies to look for 
 ye mysel' — breeks or no breeks ! " Saying which, 
 she went into the little cottage at Mossdale that you 
 may see above the Flow to this day. Only you need 
 not call, for Eppie Tamson is not there now. 
 
 So in the brisk noon of a fine birling day in May, 
 Sammle Tamson and I took the hill. At the first I mis- 
 doubted him, and thought myself a better mountaineer 
 than he. But I was soon to learn different. Samuel 
 Tamson walked with a strange forward stoop which 
 approached a right angle. He leaned heavily on his 
 shepherd's stafF as he went — his thin, pallid face with 
 its lack-lustre eyes going before him. He had the air 
 of a man who carries his own head for a hand lantern. 
 It was a tall stick which he carried, and oftentimes the 
 hand that grasped it was higher than his head. Yet 
 he could beat me on the hill without turning a hair. 
 His legs moved over the heather and stones as though 
 they could not help it, and would never stop. He 
 carried his left hand pressed into the "small" of his back. 
 
 And as we went the man that had been so silent
 
 I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE. 199 
 
 and distraught began to talk without ceasing, walking 
 all the time and speaking as though talking on the slope 
 of a Galloway hill, up to the knees in heather and 
 shin-twisting holes, were as easy as breathing. The 
 matter of his discourse, its temper and drift, also 
 astonished me. It was all about Eppie. 
 
 "She's a maist extraordinar' woman, the wife. 
 There's no the like o' her in the sax pairishes. 
 Through-gaun, tight and clean, clever wi' hand and 
 tongue, and wi' a heart as kind as — weel, ye hae seen 
 yoursel'. It's an eternal wonder to me how she ever 
 took the like o' me, or how she puts up wi' me 
 when she has me." 
 
 "She was exceedingly kind to me," I said. 
 
 " Hoot na," said Sammle, speeding up Cairn Edward 
 side at a pace that made me pech (pant) like a wind- 
 galled nag, " man, I saw that ye had the richt side 
 o' her from the start." 
 
 Then he stopped for a moment, so that I thought 
 he was weary with the short, hot burst uphill. But 
 this was not the case. He only wanted to assure 
 himself of my attention. 
 
 "Ye mauna think she's sair on me," he said, 
 earnestly. " I'm aye pleased when she tak's eneuch 
 notice to look after me in the way o' keepin' me to 
 my wark. I ken I wad try a sant. I hae nae 
 memory ava, and the mind that I hae is no worth a 
 buckie. Whiles I think I maun hae hidden my talent 
 in my sleep, and forgotten whaur I put it, for I canna 
 see hilt nor hair o't. And a' folks are born wi' yin, the 
 minister says. He has speaking aboot that verra subject 
 in Kells Kirk, Sabbath was eight days. What think 
 ye o' that question yerseP na, Laird Heron ? '
 
 200 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 This with the earnestness and desire of a Scot for 
 a theological discussion. But I had small store of 
 theology, and smaller desire at that moment to engage 
 in any debate. So I tried to keep him to his story. 
 
 "'Deed, aye, I'm a sair trial and vexation to her, I 
 ken, that was used to better things. Ye see the way 
 o't is this : I had been a widow x three years when I 
 began to gang aboot Parton Hoose to see her in the 
 forenichts. I had yae bit lassie, that was five year 
 auld. Weel, I asked Eppie, and I better asked her, 
 but she aye said me nay. In fact, she made fun o' 
 me to my face ; till I plucked up heart to say that I 
 wad come nae mair to be lichtlied afore folk. Na, 
 nor I didna look near for a fortnicht. Then I met 
 her on the Boat O'Rhone road, at the edge of the 
 Big Wood of Turnorrach. 
 
 " c Guid e'en to ye," says she, * hae ye lost the road 
 to Parton ? ' 
 
 " I said, c No, I haena, but I was well aware that 
 I wasna wantit at Parton.' 
 
 "She made answer that she was none so sure of that. 
 
 " Now, I'm not a bright man nor a forritsome man, 
 but I'm no exactly a fool, so I took her round the 
 neck, and that you'll find a better argument wi' a 
 lass than ony talkin' — that is, gin she likes you ava'. 
 That's my advice to you, Laird Rathan." 
 
 We were now on the brow of the high, rocky hill 
 that is called Cairn Edward, or Cairn Ethart, which 
 rises bleak and grey above the rushing of the Black 
 Water of Dee. 
 
 "We'll keep high," said Sammle. "It'll be the 
 better for seein' and less kittle for being seen." 
 
 1 "Widower" is a vain word in Galloway to this day.
 
 I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE. 201 
 
 So as we went, he took up again the burden of his 
 tale. 
 
 " Sae, of course, after Tornorrach Wood, there was 
 nae mair ado but to get married. And married we 
 were as soon as the cries were through, and a braw 
 wedding there was at the big hoose. The leddy was 
 awfu' ta'en on aboot her, and amang ither things that 
 she got awa' wi' her was the flask ye hae in your 
 pooch, and the object glass. Aiblins ye wadna be the 
 waur o' a drap the noo ? No — weel, weel ! 
 
 " But there was the lassie, Marion, that was mine 
 an' my first wife's — a bonny wee bit lass j noo the 
 silly, ill-contriving folk had been tellin' her aboot a 
 step-mither, and when we drave up to the door, or as 
 near it as the laird's powny could tak' us, here's wee 
 Marion sitting on the doorstep (and ye could see that 
 her heart was like to break, though she had the 
 greetin' by wi' and only a begrutten face turned up 
 to us as peetiful like). Waes me — to mind on't ! 
 
 "Then when we lichtit doon, here wee Marion 
 comes to meet us, wi' her bit underlip quivering and 
 the clear water standing in her blue e'en — O man, 
 man, to think on't ! And, says she, as clever as if she 
 had been sayin' it ower an' ower to herseP to learn it 
 by heart afore we cam' — 
 
 " c This hoose is yours noo, I ken,' she says to 
 Eppie (she was but five year past in September). 
 c But, maybe, ye'll let wee Marion bide in the hen- 
 hoose aside the calf. I'se no asturb him ava',' she says. 
 4 Marion will be rale quiet, and see, I hae ta'en Black 
 Andra' there already ! ' 
 
 " Black Andra' was her bit bairn's dolly that I had 
 made oot o' a bit stick and pentit for her red and black.
 
 202 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " c See,' she said, ' Black Andra's there the noo, 
 waitin' amang the hay, an' him an' me will never say 
 cheep — wull ye let us bide in the hen-hoose ? ' 
 
 " O man, O man," burst out Sammle Tamson, 
 sobbing to himself in a passion as he leant on his staff, 
 " it was like death to me to hear the bit bairn. 
 
 " And the wife, Eppie, oh, but she took it sair to 
 heart. She sat doon there on the doorstep and sabbit 
 till she took to the laughing. And then she couldna 
 stop. Never in my life had I seen onybody ta'en like 
 that. It was a maist peetifu' hamecomin'. 
 
 " Then, when she came to a wee, she took the bit 
 lass in her airms and kissed her ; but Marion had been 
 talked to by silly folk, and had gotten her mind fu' 
 o' the going to the hen-hoose, so she would not go 
 willingly to Eppie. 
 
 " But I sent Marion to bed in the spence, and saw 
 her snugly happit up wi' Black Andra', that was a 
 gruesome-like tyke pented wi' tar and cart-red, and 
 shrouded in an auld clout — yet she took him in her 
 airms and grat quately on the pillow, for she loved 
 him. 
 
 " So I left them. 
 
 " But in the mornin' it happened that I had to rise 
 early — and it ser'ed us richt for marryin' in the lambin' 
 time ; so it was in the very earliest blink o' day that I 
 took the door ahint me, an' gaed my ways unwilling 
 to the hill. 
 
 " Eppie was lying wide awake in the dark o' the 
 morning, thinkin', nae doot, and no the pleasantest o' 
 thochts, aboot what she wad do wi' Marion. 
 
 "When, as she has telled me fifty times, and fifty to 
 the back o' that, the spence door gied a bit cheep as
 
 I GET THE RIGHT SIDE OF EPPIE. 203 
 
 gin the cat were coming ben. Then a wee white 
 facie lookit round the corner o' the door, and wee bare 
 feet paidled across the floor till they stoppit by Eppie's 
 bed. 
 
 " It was Marion. She looked a while afore she 
 spoke, but Eppie said no a word. 
 
 " c They say that ye are my mither noo,' said wee 
 Marion, haudin' up yae bare foot afF the cauld stane. 
 
 " ' An' what if I war your mither ? ' said Eppie 
 that is my wife, as kind as she could say. 
 
 " ' WY than,' says Marion, emphatically, ( gin ye 
 be my mither, I thocht that I wad like to creep in 
 aside ye a wee into your warm bed, for it's cauld, 
 cauld in the spence.' 
 
 " Eppie was oot o' bed in a moment, and had the 
 bairn in her airms, greeting ower her and rejoicing a' 
 at yince. 
 
 " c Can I come in, then ? ' said Marion. 
 
 " £ Aye, blessin's on ye, ye can that ! ' said Eppie, 
 heartily. 
 
 "'And bide ? ' continued the wee lass in white. 
 
 " £ Aye, come awa',' quo' Eppie. 
 
 " ' And pit my cauld feet on ye ? ' 
 
 " ' Hoot aye, bairn, onygate ye like.' 
 
 " c Then I'se come and bring Black Andra' ! ' 
 
 "When I cam' back frae the hill there was sma' 
 room for me, for Eppie and Marion and Black Andra' 
 were a' lyin' sleepin' wi' their arms aboot ither ! 
 
 "And that was the beginning o't ! " said Sammle 
 Tamson of Mossdale. 
 
 " And where is the lassie noo ? I wad like to see 
 her. Is she up and married, or oot to service ? " I 
 said, without due caution.
 
 20 4 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Sammle shook his head. He did not sob again, but 
 there was a look of wae on his face that was very 
 touching to the heart. 
 
 " She's gane ! " he said. 
 
 " Gane ! " said I, startled. " Did she die ? " 
 
 " Na, no that ; she was lost on the hills — it's a lang 
 story, and we're getting ower by the Black Craig o' 
 Dee noo. We'll hae to be cautious." 
 
 But he went on. 
 
 " So, sir, for a year that bit lass was the very apple 
 o' Eppie's e'e. We never had ony bairns o' oor ain, 
 an' Eppie was juist wrapped up in that lass Marion. 
 I often spoke to her aboot it, but as ye may under- 
 stand, I micht as weel hae saved my breath." 
 
 I understood, and signified it with a nod. 
 
 Sammle Tamson went on, feet and tongue plying 
 together, till we drew towards the verge of the Black 
 Craig of Dee, and saw beneath us the whole of the 
 land backwards, with its lochs and lochans, clints and 
 mosses, away to the little white house of Mossdale 
 itself, where I doubt not there was one looking up for 
 us as we journeyed.
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 THE FORWANDERED BAIRN. 
 
 And this was the further matter of his tale. 
 
 " When the wife had been nineteen months at the 
 Bennan, it was her custom to let Marion come oot 
 ower the hills wi' my dinner-piece in a napkin. It 
 was but seldom that I gaed so far away that she could 
 not see me from the doorstep ; for the most feck of my 
 herdin' is done within sight of the house, by reason of 
 the country all sloping to the Water o' Dee, where sits 
 the wee hoose o' Mossdale, as ye are weel aware. 
 
 " But it happened on a day that I had a job up 
 at the Englishman's Dub, that is at the back o' the 
 Bennan hill, up by the springs o' the Lowran Burn. 
 
 "I mind the day as weel as if it was yesterday. I 
 had an e'e on the sheep, of course ; but I was cutting 
 a bit birk, that was crooked, to carry it hame to mak' 
 a fancy c creepie ' stool for wee Marion. 
 
 " An', faith, here comes the bairnie hersel', liltin' 
 
 blithe wi' my broth in a tin can that she was carryin' 
 
 by the bool (hoop), careful no to spill — my bit piece 
 
 in a wee bag that she caa'ed her schule bag, though 
 
 there was no schule near hand for her to go to. I 
 
 can see her, happin' and juikin' ower the muir — for a' 
 
 the stanes and the deep heather that whiles cam' ower 
 
 205
 
 206 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 her heid — linkin' alang and singin' like a laverock. 
 Oh, but she was a blithesome wee lass." 
 
 I will admit that I found all this extraordinarily 
 interesting, more perhaps than my readers may when 
 it is told ; but maybe to hear it from the strange, 
 laughable-tragic man on the great hills of heather 
 made all the difference. 
 
 Sammle Tamson went on. "While I was at my 
 denner, she sat an' talked bits of bairn's talk, and ate 
 scraplets that I gied to her, or that she pu'd off for 
 hersel', for she ever took great pleasure in sittin' by 
 the bakeboard and eating the crumbs. 
 
 " I mind weel she asked aboot the wee crooked 
 birks — gin God made them crooked. Or if it was 
 their ain badness that made them crooked, or whatna 
 way was it ? Na, an' she wadna be pitten aff wi' nae 
 answer ava', but pressed me so that she had me clean 
 oot o' my depth, and I had to say — 
 
 " c Weel, Marion, ye'll hae to speer at the minister 
 when he comes to catechise ye. Ye'll hae to speer 
 him his quastions as weel ! ' 
 
 " ' 'Deed, wull I that ! ' says she. 
 
 " So when I had ta'en my fill, I buckled on the bag 
 and gied her the can, and the wee leddy took the road 
 hame as canty as a lark." 
 
 As Sammle Tamson got so far in his tale we 
 were in the great Corry that lies to the west of the 
 Black Craig of Dee, between the Hill o' the Hope 
 and the Rig o' Craig Gilbert. We could see the 
 reeking chimneys of the steading of Laggan o' Dee, 
 that was said to have decent folk in it, for all so near 
 as it lies to the outlaw country. 
 
 Sammle stopped deliberately, and faced me in order
 
 THE FORWANDERED BAIRN. 207 
 
 to say impressively, " So I saw wee Marion gang frae 
 me, her white bit legs twinklin' amang the heather 
 aneath her short skirts. She gaed ower the knowe, 
 standin' on the tap juist lang eneuch to wave her can, 
 and cry a word that she had learned from Eppie — 
 
 " c Noo, Sammle, see an' be hame in time o' nicht.' ' 
 
 " ' Ye wee besom ! ' cries I, an' she juiked doon." 
 
 Sammle looked me in the face. I had not thought 
 he could look so solemn. 
 
 " From that moment to this," he said, " have I 
 never set e'en on my bairn." 
 
 We were silent a space, Sammle Tamson looking 
 fixedly at me as though he had forgotten to look away, 
 while I was trying to keep back the water from my 
 face, for I cannot bear folk that are aye greet-greeting. 
 
 " But did you not seek for her ? " I asked very 
 foolishly, and without thinking. 
 
 " Seek for her — aye, far and near we seekit. There 
 was parties oot on the hills for ten days. I wasna 
 in my bed mysel' for near three weeks. It was then 
 that I got the income in my back. The wife gaed 
 oot o' her mind a'thegither. She was fair wild, and 
 sair set again me, though I could little help it. The 
 bairn had come hame farther nor that fifty times. 
 
 " But I gang ower fast," said Sammle ; " I'll tell ye 
 the tale. 
 
 "The day after Marion was lost on the moors, 
 Eppie is lost as weel. She had risen and ta'en the 
 hills afore the break o' day. My sister frae Clachan- 
 pluck, a married woman, was wi' her ; but Tibby 
 was aye a sound sleeper. So when she wakkened 
 Eppie was up an' awa. 
 
 "So there was another hunt.
 
 208 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Up a' the Dee Water side I tracked Eppie, here 
 by a fit-mark, there by a screed o' her druggit goown 
 tangled on a blackthorn, till the next day at noon I 
 fand her awa' up on the links o' the Cooran Lane far 
 ayont Loch Dee, clean gane oot o' her mind a'the- 
 gither. As far as I could mak' oot the ootlaw folk 
 had been at her, but she had fleyed them. A' thae 
 kind o' folk are awfu' feared of them that's oot o' 
 their mind, and disna think it canny to meddle wi' 
 them — or itherwise, I dinna like to think what micht 
 hae happened. 
 
 " When I fand Eppie she was lyin' on a bank, wi' 
 her heid bare and the sun on her. As soon as she 
 saw me drawin' near, she gied a skelloch an' ran 
 whatever she was fit. 
 
 " Noo, it's a queer-like thing when a wife o' nine- 
 teen months rins like a tod (fox) frae her married 
 husband. That took me at the hert, but I saw there 
 was nocht for it but that I maun juist rin her doon. 
 But it was a lang chase. 
 
 " She had the strength o' six. I dinna believe I 
 wad hae grupped her awa', but for her lettin' some- 
 thing faa' she carried in her hand as she ran. 
 
 " So in a howe o' the heather I got Eppie in my 
 airms, and caa'ed her c my dawtie,' and spoke to her as 
 I used to do in the hay-neuk at Parton on the nichts 
 when I first gaed doon to see her. 
 
 " Bit by bit she cam to a wee, till she saw the thing 
 that she had fand. It was the same can that Marion 
 had ta'en wi' my denner broth that day her mither 
 sent her. Every time that her e'en fell on that can, 
 she wad gang afF again in a swarf (faint), and speak 
 wild, wild words when she cam oot o't.
 
 THE FORWANDERED BAIRN. 209 
 
 " But at lang and last I gat her hame. That was 
 nae joke. It was the hardest job that ever I had. 
 The can was half fu' o' blackberries that the bairn 
 had been gathering (as we jaloosed), because Eppie had 
 said that she was fondest o' bramble-berry jelly o' a' 
 the sugar conserves that are made. So the bairn nae 
 doot had thocht to please Eppie and so gane to her 
 death. 
 
 " And the strange thing is that even when Eppie 
 cam to hersel', she threepit (alleged) and better 
 threepit, that she had seen the lassie rinnin' afore her 
 ower the quakkln quas and the green morasses o' the 
 Silver Flow o' Buchan. Oh, I ken it's a moral 
 impossibility, but this is what Eppie declares to this 
 day : She was on a hill that they caa' Craigeazle, 
 and doon below her she saw oor bit lass rinnin', and 
 she cried to her, and her heart was glad. She ran 
 doon the hillside amang the rocks and clatterin' slate- 
 stanes, but aye the wee lass ran on. It was terrible- 
 like grund, lairin' at every step, but the wean ran on 
 licht-fit ; when suddenly something like an airm shot 
 up oot o' the quag an' poo'ed the bairn doon, and 
 Eppie saw nae mair but the oily bubbles rising oot o' 
 the black glossy glaur o' the wall-e'e (out of the black 
 mud of the moss-hole). 
 
 " O man, Laird Heron, I ken brawly it's no a 
 faceable story ava'. It's only a distrakit woman's 
 dream ; but gin she mentions it to you, ye mauna 
 contradict her, for she believes it like her Bible. Na, 
 na, sir, it was a pleesure to me to see her tak' sic' an 
 interest in ye this day. It tak's her mind aff what 
 does nae guid to think upon. Mony is the time that 
 I'm gled when my stupidity angers her, an' it's a mortal 
 
 14
 
 210 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 pleesure to me when she comes at me wi' the besom 
 shank. Whiles, maybe, I male' mysel' a kennin' 
 stupider than I need be, just to humour her." 
 
 Sammle Tamson finished here. What a dolt and 
 ass I had been to look on this man as no more than 
 a mockery and a laughing-stock ! Underneath that 
 strange outward appearance and behind his comical 
 relations with his wife lay, unsuspected, a whole 
 world of tragedy. The Lord keep me in the future 
 from hasty judgments. We see our neighbour's face, 
 but what is underneath is his own. Truly a stranger 
 intermeddleth not with another's heart bitterness. 
 
 We had been out from the house at Mossdale more 
 than two hours, when we came suddenly to the crest 
 of the ridge and looked over the other side ere we 
 were aware. As soon as Sammle got his first look he 
 dropped like a shot. 
 
 " Clap," he said under his breath ; " for the love o' 
 God, clap ! " 
 
 I was beside him in an instant. Together we 
 peered cautiously over the worn and water-pitted edge 
 of the blue whinstone rock, our bodies buried up to 
 the chin in the heather. 
 
 Sammle pointed with his long whaup's nose. 
 
 " There," he whispered, as though we were not a 
 thousand feet in the air above the drove-road, " d'ye 
 see yon ? " 
 
 This is what I saw. I saw the Links o' the Black 
 Water o' Dee shining amid the dull yellows and greys 
 of the grim mosses through which it slowly made its 
 way. I saw the untenanted onstead of Clattering Shaws 
 and the drove-road to the Cree Bridge wimpling 
 across the heather. But what I mainly saw was a
 
 THE FORWANDERED BAIRN. 211 
 
 straggling line of black dots (as it were both upright 
 and long) crawling irregularly over the moor by the 
 waterside. 
 
 " There's the drove, and there's your Macatericks 
 and Marshalls, an' I doot na a Faa or twa amang 
 them," said the goodman of Mossdale. 
 
 I had out the prospect glass in a flash, and Sammle, 
 being acquaint with its ways, set it for me. But he 
 let me look first, for he was a thoughtful man. 
 
 I soon caught them up, and though they were but 
 blurs when I first got them upon the eye-piece, by 
 dint of a little screwing of the slides and learning how 
 to shut one eye, I was soon able to see quite clearly. 
 There were ten or twelve mounted men in the party, 
 riding loosely behind ; but on two of the horses 
 wounded men were carried, who seemed unable to 
 sit on themselves, and were held up by a man at each 
 side. Then there were a great many cattle, some 
 limping wearily on, and others trying to snatch a bite 
 of fodder by the way. It astonished me to find that 
 I could see all quite plainly at this distance. Never 
 on Solway side had I seen so notable a glass. Then 
 fore and aft of the herd there were raggety boys 
 holding the beasts in check and playing pranks among 
 themselves. But what I most longed for, yet feared 
 to see, was not to be seen, for Hector Faa and May 
 Maxwell were not of the party. 
 
 Silver Sand had been correct in his premises ; it 
 would yet be seen if he were also as faithful in his 
 conclusions. 
 
 " The Lord grant it," said I aloud. 
 
 It is at the Clattering Shaws that the Edinburgh 
 road takes a bend, and there too is a wide plain where
 
 212 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the country folks say that Good King Robert fought 
 a battle. But it was a difficult place for us to cross to 
 the other side of the glen ; yet cross we must, and that 
 speedily, for it was evident that the outlaws now con- 
 sidered themselves perfectly safe and would not hurry 
 the cattle, being in their own country. 
 
 I told Sammle as much of Silver Sand's plans as I 
 thought prudent — which, to be honest, was nearly as 
 much as I knew myself. He approved of them gene- 
 rally, and was able to shed a great deal of light upon 
 the intentions of the gypsies, the lie of the country, 
 and on what my own movements ought to be. 
 
 The cattle reivers would certainly, he said, taice 
 the easiest road, and slowly find a track by the Loch 
 Dee and Loch Trool, past Glenhead, and up the 
 narrow defile of the Gairland Burn, into that tangle 
 of lochs and mountains under the brow of Merrick, 
 which formed their robbers' fastness. There would be 
 better grazing by the loch shores than anywhere else, 
 though indeed the Faas never wanted for fodder so 
 long as there were hay crops on the Cree water or 
 corn in the Glenkens. It was easy work taking down 
 a bevy of horses and bringing up a supply — easier than 
 cutting and winning the meadow hay upon their own 
 sparse watersides. 
 
 It was therefore necessary for me to cross and take 
 to the hills on the eastern side of the Dungeon, then 
 make for the Wolf's Slock as fast as I could, and trust 
 to Providence after that. At least, so said Sammle 
 Tamson, evidently thinking that Providence would be 
 no improvement upon himself as a guide among the 
 hills of the Dungeon.
 
 CHAPTER XXIV. 
 
 A MEETING WITH BILLY MARSHALL. 
 
 As we went I began to see my guide hanging back 
 and halting on one foot, instead of bravely striding 
 forward as had been his wont. 
 
 " What is the matter, Sammle ? " said I. 
 
 " We'll hae to cross the open," said Sammle Tamson, 
 " and I like na the job." 
 
 Yet there was no one in sight to the east or south. 
 We stood alone in a wide vacant world, or often rather 
 crawled in the heather, only our noses peeping out. 
 
 " Ye see that muckle V the road maks here," said 
 he ; " noo that's a king's highway, though there's few 
 o' the king's men ever sets fit on it noo. D'ye no 
 jaloose (suspect) what for it disna gang straight forrit, 
 like an ordinar' road. It's because that bog doon there 
 is no safe. They say that King Robert, that was a 
 Carrick man in the auld days, laired and bogged a hale 
 army o' the English there. Noo, my man, gin ye are 
 to try the Wolf's Slock, there's but twa chances for 
 ye an I see. To gang forrit and cross, that's mair 
 danger, but also a great deal mair speed. To gang 
 back and cross, on the ither hand, ye maun gang to 
 the Black Craig o' Dee afore ye hae a chance o' 
 
 213
 
 214 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 crossin' that weary road that rins like an ether (adder) 
 beneath us." 
 
 Sammle looked at me to choose. 
 
 " On ! " I said briefly. 
 
 " It's as I wad hae expected, but I'll no deny that in 
 half an hour the baith o' us may be pechin' on the 
 heather like a couple o' shotten pairtricks." 
 
 Sammle began to crawl cautiously among the 
 boulders, keeping to leeward of every stone. The 
 dots of cattle and men were now so far away that 
 caution seemed needless ; but I did not ask the reason 
 of his extraordinary care, for I had great trust in the 
 moorman. It might be that the outlaws had watchers 
 on all the tops, who could discern every movement of 
 both beast and body on that great empty waste. 
 
 In ten minutes we were crossing the little Dee 
 water, which here flows sluggish and brown from the 
 peat mosses. It was deeper than I thought, and I had 
 to hold my powder and pistols high up in order that 
 they might get no hurt. While we were in act to 
 cross, we saw two decent-like men come out of the 
 little steading of Craignell (so Sammle called it) and 
 wave to us with friendly gestures. They were so near 
 that we could see them distinctly, to the very colour 
 of their hair and the pearl buttons on their coats, and 
 I was for turning back to see what they wanted. 
 Sammle Tamson, however, became a different man as 
 soon as he saw them. 
 
 " Rin for't," he cried, and instantly turned his nose 
 to the hill and went upward like a fox, turning and 
 twisting so quick that I could hardly follow him. 
 Over my shoulder I could see the men running through 
 the heather, and waving on us to stop. It seemed
 
 A MEETING WITH BILLY MARSHALL. 215 
 
 a mighty silly thing to be running from men who 
 by their appearance should be decent moor folk, though 
 at least one of them wore matted unkempt hair like the 
 outlaws. 
 
 But since Sammle ran, I ran too ; and it was 
 as well, for in a little, Wang ! Crack ! came a bullet 
 and the sound of guns hard on the back of each other. 
 Sammle was going at top speed, digging his staff into 
 the earth as he went up the side of the hill, as if he 
 were running with an extra leg. 
 
 Presently we got upon what was one of the roughest 
 parts of the country for heather and stones that I have 
 ever seen. It is called, I hear, the Rig of Drumquhat, 
 and I do not know who is laird of it ; but one thing I 
 know, that he has a barren heritage and routh of 
 heather. If it had not been for this latter, indeed, I 
 fear we had been as good as dead men. As soon as we 
 had darned ourselves into the thickest of it, Sammle 
 dropped on his knees and put his hands on the ground 
 and panted with his head down and his tongue out. 
 
 " Keek oot," he said between his gasps, " and see 
 gin ye can see the ill-contriving blasties." 
 
 I made answer that I did, but they were far away, 
 and going very slowly, as men that were not keen 
 about their job. 
 
 " Na ! " he said, "Young Billy Marshall is ower 
 fond o' the brandy bottle and the hizzies to be a good 
 hill rinner, whatever." 
 
 " Billy Marshall ! " said I, looking, I am sure, very 
 queer at the name of the great catheran ; " Billy 
 Marshall's in Holland, and dare nae mair show his face 
 on Scots grund than Johnny Faa himsel'." 
 
 "Weel, Laird, believe me, yon chap wi' the Roman
 
 z\6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 nose that was the better put on, verra decent like, was 
 nae ither than Billy, or else I'm Billy myseP. Just 
 keep track o' them, will ye ? " 
 
 And he lay down flat on the bent, with his arms 
 wide and his hands flaccid and open. 
 
 Out of my heather bush I watched the glen. They 
 had turned back to go into the house of Craignell 
 again. 
 
 " There's mettle mair attractive inside there, ye 
 may depend," said Sammle. "Ye'll no be bothered 
 wi' Billy amang the rascals ye hae to fecht up by the 
 Dungeon." 
 
 Then we set off" again over two very desolate hills 
 that have for names, as Sammle told me, Craignell and 
 Darnaw. We were high up on them and keeping 
 the crown of the causeway, the brown moors and grey 
 rocks running from horizon to horizon beneath us. 
 
 So we felt ourselves safe for the present. The sun 
 was now beginning to sink, and a great bank of cloud 
 was gathering over in the west, from which pieces 
 were ever and anon blown off, though only the 
 gurgling sough of the wind came to us, even on these 
 mountain-tops. 
 
 "Ye'll hae a dark nicht o't in the Wolfs Slock. It'll 
 be as dark up there as the inside o' that beast himsel'. 
 But a' the better for you. Keep a guid heart and 
 your breast to the brae." 
 
 I had a question to ask. 
 
 " I heard ye say, guidman, that Billy Marshall could 
 easily come across the Channel frae Holland. Noo, 
 are ye of opinion that Faa himsel', wha's heid is forfeit, 
 micht come as weel ? " 
 
 " There's nae kennin'," said Sammle. " Faa micht
 
 A MEETING WITH BILLY MARSHALL. 217 
 
 never hae been oot o' the country since he broke wi' 
 his clan. Ye ken thae Faas are gentrice ower by on 
 the Border side. And they say that Johnny Faa keeps 
 wide o' his mither and brither since they took to 
 cattle-liftin' and murder, but yet gets aye his share 
 o' a' that's gaun, that comes honestly. He tak's no 
 shares in the cattle ; but there's no a penny that rattles 
 in a beggar's wooden cup, no a boddle that is gi'en to 
 him at a changehouse, but Johnny Faa himsel' gets 
 his tenth o't. He's a kind o' pope amang them, 
 though the ragged clan wadna be keeped to gentrice, 
 nor fecht for the Pretender instead o' liftin' nowt, as 
 Johnny wad hae likit. Faith, they say that Billy 
 Marshall is feared o' the Faa himsel'. Johnny Faa is 
 no canny. He comes an' gangs like a wraith, or like 
 the wind — no man knoweth whither he goes or whence 
 he comes." 
 
 Soon we were on the height above Cairndarroch 
 Ford. Sammle did not cower now, but strode boldly 
 down, staff in hand, and kicking up the dust of the 
 heather with his feet, so that I wondered to see him. 
 Then I asked him the reason of his change of bearing ; 
 he said — 
 
 " I carena noo. Their tail's guarded by Billy 
 Marshall at Craignell, where he is safe in hold by 
 this time, birling at the wine — a doxy set by ilka 
 oxter. Gin ony was to see us, they wad gang on 
 a' the faster, thinkin' Billy was keepin' braw watch, 
 screevin' ower the country to keep a' safe." 
 
 And it was as he said. When we got to the ford 
 of the Dee Water, Sammle went plashing through, his 
 feet casting up the water about him in a kind of glee, 
 like a horse trampling into the Solway tide for a bath.
 
 2i8 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Far up on the hillside somebody waved something 
 white. 
 
 " Hae ye a napkin ? " said Sammle. " I hae lost 
 mine, and I'm loath to pu' aff my ither sark tail. 
 Eppie made sic a wark aboot the last yin. I'll tell ye 
 the story some ither day, when we hae less enterteenin' 
 things aboot us." 
 
 I handed him my handkerchief that was none so 
 white, but served his purpose, which was indeed no 
 more than to wave back to the rascal who saluted us 
 from the hilltop as we went through the ford. Sammle 
 waved the napkin twice to his right hand once to his 
 left, touching the heather on each occasion. 
 
 " That means £ All well,' " he said ; " three times 
 roon yer heid is c Danger — Rin ! ' an' haudin' the 
 napkin oot at airm's length frae yer left haun' is 
 1 Bide till I come ' ; but that last will be no muckle 
 use to ye." 
 
 We were now among the burnt heather, whistling 
 as we went, and kicking up the ashy dust of the 
 March muirburn with our feet. This dust or "stoor" 
 got in Sammle's throat and kept him coughing. 
 
 " It behoves me to be turning, Rathan," he said. 
 " I may hae been a help to ye so far, but ony farder 
 I'll be but a burden and a danger. I can do mony a 
 thing, but neyther in kirk or market can I keep back 
 the barkin' when I get that dry yeukin' in my thrapple. 
 I doot I'm to be hanged, for it's aye in my Adam's 
 aipple that I hae a pricklin' like eatin' pepper-pods." 
 
 We were now high above the misty basin of Loch 
 Dee, which we saw shining blue away in the hazy 
 south, with the burn running out of it into the Cooran 
 Lane. We could see with the prospect glass the
 
 A MEETING WITH BILLY MARSHALL. 219 
 
 drovers letting the cattle stray wide, watched only by 
 boys on the green meadows of the two Laggans by 
 the loch side. A very great number of the poor beasts 
 were standing in the water of the loch cooling their 
 travel-weary feet and drinking deep draughts. 
 
 We were now on the smooth side of the furthest 
 spur of Millyea, the last of the Kells Range, which 
 pushed its wide shoulders on into the north, heave 
 behind heave, like a school of pellocks in the Firth. 
 I was astonished at their height and greenness, never 
 having in my life seen a green hill before, and sup- 
 posing that all mountains were as rugged and purple 
 with heather or else as grey with boulder as our own 
 Screel and Ben Gairn by the Balcary shore. But these 
 I found were speciallv granted by a kind Providence 
 to afford yirds and secret caves for our Solway 
 smugglers. 
 
 It was always counted a Divine judgment on the 
 people of the Glenkens that their hills are so smooth 
 that the comings and goings of men and horses upon 
 them can be seen afar, and the smoke of a still tracked 
 for a summer day's journey. But then, again, if the 
 Glenkens folk had been able to supply themselves 
 with whisky, the Solway farmers, like my friends the 
 Maxwells, would have had to go farther afield in order 
 to seek a market for their wares. 
 
 But things are wisely ordered, and amongst other 
 things it was ordained that I should now be on the 
 side of Millyea looking towards the great breastwork 
 of the Dungeon of Buchan, behind which lay the 
 outlaw country shrouded in dark and threatening mist.
 
 CHAPTER XXV. 
 
 THE DUNGEON o' BUCHAN. 
 
 Now, because nothing can be more uncertain and 
 uncanny than the changes of the weather in the 
 Dungeon of Buchan, it behoved that Samuel Tamson, 
 that very honest man, and I should part. The thought 
 of the poor lass, May Maxwell, was heavy on my heart, 
 and I began to desire with a great desire to see her, 
 even if I could not come at the winning of her — which 
 in the disturbed state of the country, and the mountain 
 men having won so great a victory at the Black Water 
 of Dee, did not seem likely. 
 
 It was time to part, so we looked at one another 
 and found nothing to say. Sammle Tamson turned 
 on his heel. When he had gone maybe ten steps, he 
 looked back and said to me, still standing in the same 
 place — 
 
 "The God of Jacob be your rereward." 
 But even then I found not anything to say, and so 
 parted very heavy at heart. The great clouds were 
 topping the black and terrible ramparts opposite to 
 me. Along the long cliff line, scarred and broken with 
 the thunderbolt, the clouds lay piled, making the 
 Merrick, the Star, the Dungeon, and the other hills
 
 THE DUNGEON O' BUCHAN. 221 
 
 of that centre boss of the hill country look twice their 
 proper height. The darkness drew swiftly down like 
 a curtain. The valley was filled with a steely blue 
 smother. From the white clouds along the top of 
 the Dungeon of Buchan fleecy streamers were blown 
 upwards, and swift gusts spirted down. Behind, the 
 thunder growled like a continuous roll of drums, 
 and little lambent flames played like devils' smiles 
 about the grim features of Breesha and the Snibe. 
 Yonder were the frowning rocks of the Dungeon 
 itself farthest to the north, and that great hollow- 
 throated pass through which still a peep of sunshine 
 mistily shot down, bore the grim name of the Wolf's 
 Slock. Thither I must climb. Yet though there was 
 no light in it, it was through it that I could best see 
 the hell-brew of elements which was going on up 
 there. Here on the side of the opposite brae did I lie 
 face down on the grass and heather and look upward. 
 The wind came in curious extremes — now in lown- 
 warm puffs and gusts, and then again in sharp, cold 
 bensles that froze the blood in one's veins. 
 
 Then it was that for the first and last time, a kind 
 of shuddering horror came over me, which now I 
 shame to think upon. What right had I to be there ? 
 — I that might have sat safe and smiling on my Isle 
 Rathan ? Had any meddled with me there, that I 
 must go and take up a stranger's quarrel ? What a 
 fool to bring myself so to the dagger's point — and that 
 for a girl who had no thought or tenderness for me, 
 but only scoffs and jeers ! I did not even know that 
 she had not been playing with me. For aught I knew 
 she might have gone willingly enough on the pillion 
 behind handsome Hector Faa, that was own brother
 
 222 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 to John Faa; a gentleman born upon the Borders ; and 
 who might even, when the turmoil died down, succeed 
 to the dignities, such as they were. What had I, 
 who might have been sailing in the tall ships to see 
 strange lands (for so my revenues permitted) — eating 
 of the breadfruit and drinking of the coco brew that 
 is as wine and milk at once — to do here on this Hill 
 Perilous on such desperate quest among desperate 
 men ? 
 
 But, truth to tell, I believed not in my own un- 
 shakable logic, and in this I was even like a woman. 
 I believed not in my own caution, and in my heart I 
 only longed to meet Silver Sand and to come to 
 grapples with a dozen Faas on their own ground — at 
 least if I could get first sight of the self-same smile 
 that was on May Mischiefs face when I called her 
 " Impudent besom ! " aloud that day, when my tongue 
 slipped and I let the words from me unawares. 
 
 Thus I let Satan tempt me, for the sake of setting 
 my elbow in his face ; but he was not so easily 
 deceived, for he flew away out of my heart, crying, 
 " Fool, thou hast the desire to go only that a light girl 
 may lead thee to the death — one that cares naught for 
 thee." But I said to him, " Thou liest, Foul Thief, 
 and if thou didst speak truth I do not care. Go I 
 will ! " Whereat I felt mighty manly, and so rose and 
 went. 
 
 But to resolve is ever easier than to do. Between 
 me and the frowning ridges — now the colour 
 of darkest indigo, with the mists clammily creep- 
 ing up and down and making the rocks unwhole- 
 somely white, as if great slimy slugs had crawled 
 over them — were the links of the Cooran winding
 
 THE DUNGEON O' BUCHAN. 223 
 
 slow, leaden, and dangerous. And there beyond them 
 was the Silver Flowe of Buchan, where the little Marion 
 had been drawn to her death either by the clinging 
 sand or the dread arm of the water kelpie. 
 
 As I went the ground became wetter and boggier. 
 My foot sank often to the ankle, and I had to shift 
 my weight suddenly with an effort, drawing my im- 
 prisoned foot out of the oozy, clinging sand with a 
 great "cloop," as if I had begun to decant some 
 mighty bottle. Green, unwholesome scum on the 
 edges of black pools frothed about my brogues, 
 which were soon wet through. Then came a 
 link of silver flat where the sand was firm to the 
 eye. My heart beat at the pleasant sight, but when 
 I set foot on it a shivering flash like lightning 
 flamed suddenly over it, and it gripped my feet like 
 a vice. Had I not been shore bred, and that on 
 Solway side, I had passed out of life even then. 
 But I knew the trick of it, and threw myself flat 
 towards the nearest bank of grass, kicking my feet 
 free horizontally, and so crawled an inch at a time 
 back to the honest peat again. Then I found a great 
 shepherd's stick lying on a link of the Cooran — a wide, 
 black, unkindly-like water, seen under that gloomy 
 sky, whatever it may appear in other circumstances. 
 It had been placed there by some shepherd who had 
 business on the other side, or mayhap had been cast 
 up by that dangerous water after it had drowned the 
 man who used it. 
 
 But at any rate it was a fortunate case for me, for 
 this " kent," or great staff, was more than two yards 
 long and prodigiously stout, with a pike at the farther 
 end, and a " clickie " handle, made closer at the lower
 
 224 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 part for catching sheep by the leg. I took it with grati- 
 tude, and I hope the man who left it there has never 
 missed it. It was assuredly of great service to me, and, 
 moreover, the chances were a hundred to one that the 
 fellow was a Marshall, a Miller, or a Macaterick, for 
 on the handle was a great M very rudely cut. Yet 
 it was a good " kent," and served me well, so why all 
 this bother about who made it ? So it is also with 
 the making of this world. Thus in time, by the 
 grace of God, and by taking great pains, I crossed 
 both the Silver Flowe of Buchan and the Links of the 
 Cooran. It is ever the nature of Galloway to share 
 the credit of any victory with Providence, but to charge 
 it wholly with any disaster. "Wasna that cleverly 
 dune?" we say when we succeed. "We maun juist 
 submit," we say when we fail — a comfortable theology, 
 which is ever' the one for the most feck of Galloway 
 men, whom chiefly dourness and not fanaticism took 
 to the hills when Lag came riding with his mandates 
 and letters judicatory.
 
 CHAPTER XXVI. 
 
 THE WOLF'S SLOCK. 
 
 But I had no such reflections as I went up the side of 
 the Dungeon towards the Throat of the Wolf. It was 
 indeed dourness and not courage which took me there. 
 I had done no harm that I should be afraid of any Faa 
 that lived. But all the same there was a small cold 
 contracted feeling about the pit of my stomach, where 
 ordinarily my courage lies. Other folks may tell that 
 they feel bold as lions — at the heart — or have a mortal 
 fear — at the heart. These are differently made from 
 me, for it is low down, even in my stomach, that my 
 courage lies, though it is oftenest rather the empty 
 want of any that pinches. 
 
 The truth is I was most mortally afraid. To begin 
 with, I was wet through — not that I minded that much 
 in itself, for so I was usually all day at the shore ; but 
 there the salt in the air, and the kindliness of the sea 
 breeze, make it a comfortable wetness. Here, on the 
 other hand, the wind off" the hills had a cold nip about 
 it, and seemed to freeze the very clothes on one's back. 
 I felt also a sting of sleet on my face. 
 
 I clambered upwards through the great boulders 
 and loose stones. 
 
 15 22 5
 
 226 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 It was no jesting now. I could see only a hundred 
 yards or so above me, but overhead the thunder was 
 moaning and rattling, coming ever closer. There 
 was a faint blue light, more unpleasant than darkness, 
 high in the lift. Then little tongues of crawling cloud 
 were shooting down as it seemed, to snatch at me, 
 curling upward like the winkers of an old man's eye as 
 they came near me. I hated them. 
 
 As often as they approached there was a soft 
 hissing, and the rocks grew dim and misty blue. 
 My hands pricked at the thin fine skin between the 
 fingers that we call the webs. I had a strange prick- 
 ling tightness about my brow, and my bonnet lifted. 
 So for all my stubborn stoutness, I liked it not, 
 and know not how I went through with it. Were 
 it to do again, I trow that I should instantly turn tail 
 and make for Rathan's Isle, and Patrick Heron, his 
 most defenced turret. But indeed I cannot tell how 
 I went on. Certainly it was not out of courage. 
 
 What I liked least were the little spouts of stones 
 that discharged themselves downward with a crash and 
 a rattle. I know not why, for the waterspouts in the 
 clouds had not broken. They came with a dry noise, 
 like bones rattling into a vault, as once I heard them 
 when they were clearing the Dullarg kirkyard to 
 make room for new parishioners — a most unholy 
 sound. I have wished many a time since that I had 
 bided at home and not gone to hear it — as indeed 
 my father had bidden me. So I was properly served. 
 
 Most of these spouts of stones fell on great tails that 
 spread down the mountain steep, like rubble from a 
 quarry toom (or dump, as they call it in the sea-coal 
 district). Some of these I had. to cross, and a most
 
 THE WOLF'S SLOCK. 227 
 
 uncomfortable passage I made of it. Little sharp slate 
 stones came down with a whizz, spinning like wheels, 
 and passed quite close to the ear with a vicious clip; as 
 the teeth of a dog snap when he bites and misses, yet 
 means to do your business the next time (and you know 
 he will) — a most vile feeling. One went past like a 
 bullet of lead and clipped a piece of skin from my ear, 
 which came near to make me swear — a habit in which 
 there is no profit, and which therefore I never use. 
 But I ought rather to have said a prayer and given 
 thanks, but that I did not either. 
 
 Then I came to one very wide spout, and my feet 
 plunged into it quickly and eagerly, because I was 
 wishful to get across with all speed, for, indeed, I liked 
 not the place. But just when I was in the midst, the 
 whole began to move slowly beneath my feet, with a 
 feeling that sent my heart into my mouth, and made 
 me faint and sick at once, for nothing is so discouraging 
 as to lose faith in the solid earth underfoot. I stood 
 a moment till I felt the whole side of the hill, as 
 it were, moving downward. Then I minded me of 
 the sand, and when I felt the push of the stones 
 growing .quicker, slithering all along of a piece, and 
 heard the ominous rattling at the edges, I can 
 take my oath that I said my prayers at the run. More, 
 I flung myself out as flat on my belly as I could and 
 dug fingers and toes, aye and face too, into the 
 moving stone slide. 
 
 We went slowly and slowly, and for some years (so 
 it seemed, and I took careful note of the time), I could 
 not tell whether we were going faster to fall or slower 
 to stop. But I prayed heartily as I had not done for 
 months. I resolved that if I could onlv get out of this I
 
 228 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 should be quite a different man. I promised as many 
 as sixteen promises that I would give up various sins 
 (which indeed I had been meaning to do for a long 
 time, and cared nothing about). Then when I was 
 sure that the slide was going quicker, I added other 
 sixteen sins that I really cared about. After that I 
 called on Providence to do so to me and more also, if I 
 did not give all these sins up (having no intention of 
 ever coming that way again, if only this once I could 
 win clear). Then suddenly in the midst of my 
 promises and petitions I minded me of the great 
 precipice which was below me, and how I had admired 
 as I lay on the brae opposite, to see the spouts of white 
 stones shoot over it and clatter against the rocks down, 
 far down at the bottom. There were ravens, too, 
 flitting heavily about the face of that cliff, and eagles 
 balancing themselves above, and I cursed my imagina- 
 tion that saw these things all too clearly. 
 
 Would we never stop ? 
 
 We must be near the top of the sheer fall by now — 
 we were still moving, slowly and bit by bit it was true, 
 but still moving. Would the thing never come to 
 an end ? 
 
 I began to long for the fall and wonder if it would 
 hurt much. One thing came into my mind and stuck 
 there strangely. I was glad I had called May Maxwell 
 "Impudent Besom," but I regretted that I had not 
 then and there kissed her where she stood. It ran in 
 my head that she might have liked it. And I should, 
 certainly. But now it was too late. 
 
 We had stopped ! No, we were moving on again. 
 Stopped again ! It was dark now for several years 
 more, and I lay as one dead with my hands dug into the
 
 THE WOLF'S SLOCK. 229 
 
 sharp-edged flaky gravel, my arms stiff-set in it to the 
 armpits, my toes also covered, and all my soul and 
 body on the strain, as one that is ready to be broken on 
 the wheel and sets his teeth to bear the first wrench, 
 praying only that it may be soon over. 
 
 How long I lay thus I know not, daring no breath 
 or movement. Then with infinite softness and caution 
 I began to move oft*, drawing out my arms inch by 
 inch, and quivering with fear if a single slate stone 
 the size of a crown piece clicked away downwards, or 
 the gravel moved an inch to fill up my empty arm 
 holes. I did not so much mind about dying, but the 
 picture of that great corbie calling lustily to his mate, 
 and plumping on the ground within two yards of me, 
 sat chill in my marrow. Again I cursed my imagina- 
 tion — which, indeed, has been no friend to me, making 
 me to endure not one but many deaths by anticipation. 
 
 For as I lay there I could see the black fiend 
 alighting with an interrogative croak, cocking his 
 rough head to the side. I could note him keeping his 
 wings a little ofF his sides ready for flight, the purple 
 gloss on his black satin cloak, his beak sharp as a 
 chisel. He waddled a foot nearer, gave a c Craw ' to 
 alarm me, if I would be alarmed, then hopped to my 
 
 head, took a look round, and There was, I 
 
 declare, a horrid pain in my eye as I lay on the loose 
 slate heaps. Of a truth I thought for the moment 
 that the corbie had struck it out. And that is but 
 a specimen of the way my vile imagination served me. 
 
 I seemed altogether empty of all my interior and 
 necessary parts, as I crawled and wriggled myself ofF 
 that wide spout of rock. Now I would crawl a yard ; 
 then lie all so cold and empty within, that the stones
 
 230 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 felt warm and soft though they were cutting my hands, 
 and the ice was glassing them where they had been 
 wet. 
 
 Then in a moment more I was clear and sat on a 
 solid knuckle of rock that shot up from the ribs of the 
 mountain, which was more comfortable to me at that 
 moment than the great armchair at Rathan that once 
 was my father's and which now is mine, in which 
 indeed I now sit and write. 
 
 I was trembling like a leaf. One moment I chittered 
 with heat, and the next shivered with cold. I was 
 drenched with perspiration, and then when I had time 
 to look I saw that my hump of rock was quite on the 
 edge of a deep gulf. The blue-white reek was surging 
 up from beneath on some reverse current and boiling 
 over the lip of the cauldron. The reason I had not 
 heard the stones falling over the edge of the slide, was 
 that they fell so far that they returned no noise up 
 here. There, too, was the raven, black against the 
 darkness, itting like the very devil I had dreamed of, 
 cocking his eye at me from a neighbouring rock. 
 
 Whereupon such is the nature of man, or at least of 
 me who count myself one (and, says my wife, like all 
 Galloway men, no ordinary one), that my spirits rose 
 swiftly. I taunted the raven with names. I threw 
 stones at him. I pulled out my silver flask and pledged 
 him, calling him "old Mahoun " — at which he seemed 
 much put out, for he rose abruptly, which he had not 
 done for all the stone-throwing, and sailed away, crying 
 as he went something that sounded like, " Till another 
 day ! " 
 
 Whereupon I was again full of courage, and pressed 
 upward into the belt of cloud. I was fairly within
 
 THE WOLF'S SLOCK. 231 
 
 the Wolfs Slock now, and found it as dark as many a 
 lamb has done that was more innocent than I. The 
 iron pike of my staff shone with lambent light as it 
 touched the rocks, and I had again the prickling feeling 
 all over my body. But the tingling air somehow dried 
 me, and thus probably kept me from taking my death 
 of cold. 
 
 And so upward ever I went. I rested none, because 
 I had a kind of strength and a desire to see the thing 
 through, which supported me mightily so long as it 
 lasted. 
 
 I was in comparative quiet where I was, but the 
 wind shrieked and " reesled " among the teeth of the 
 shattered rocks above. It yelled overhead as I got 
 nearer to the top. Yet hardly a breath reached me, 
 save and except those hissing down-drives of chill 
 wind that were over again in a minute. I thought 
 that I should do well even in the darkness if I got the 
 bield of a rock, or the space between two that might 
 act as a shelter from the rain. But suddenly I had 
 news of that. 
 
 I came to the summit as quickly as one gets to the 
 edge of a wall when a comrade gives a hoist up. The 
 wind met me like a knife, and cut me as it were in 
 two — the lower part of me being warm behind the 
 wall of rock and the top half nearly devoid of feeling ; 
 also the rain drops drove level like bullets. I had on 
 a coat that buttoned, a waistcoat with flaps, and other 
 things beneath; but the rain drops played "plap" on 
 my naked skin, as though I had no more on me than a 
 dame's cambric kerchief for holding scent to her nose 
 in church. As for my face, I had to bend my neck 
 and put the crown of my hat to the blast.
 
 232 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Yet I could not so stick all night like a fly to a 
 wall, and though the discomfort was infinite, the fear 
 I was in of another stone spout was far greater. So 
 without stopping to think, I set my elbows and then 
 my hands upon the brink and pulled myself up. 
 Arrived there, I could do nought for some minutes 
 but lie prone among the rocks, gasping for breath like 
 a trout on the bank. 
 
 However, there was no advantage in that, but very 
 much the reverse, for it was as chill up there as it is 
 an hour before a March snowstorm. I got me on 
 my feet and went stumbling forward, feeling all the 
 time with my pike for the stones and hollows. Some- 
 times I fell over a lump of heather. Sometimes my 
 foot skated on a slippery granite slab and down I 
 came my length ; yet strange to say I felt no harm 
 thereby, either then nor afterwards, perhaps owing to 
 the quivering excitement I was in. 
 
 Thus I went forward a great way, blindly and 
 doggedly — so beaten deaf and dumb, dazed and stupid 
 by the tempest, that I knew not whether I were living 
 or dead — nor cared.
 
 CHAPTER XXVII. 
 
 IN WHICH BY THE BLESSING OF PROVIDENCE I LIE 
 
 BRAVELY. 
 
 All at once my pike struck something that was 
 neither stone nor peat bog. It seemed strange to 
 me, striking through the prolonged strain of un- 
 accustomed things, with the surprise of something 
 familiar. I struck again and yet again. It was like an 
 outhouse or a door of wood. What good fortune, I 
 thought ! Some shepherd's shelter about a sheep ree, 
 left from the nights of the recent lambing time, 
 hardly yet over upon the hills. 
 
 But I heard a noise and a pother within that was 
 not of the storm. I struck again and louder. Like 
 a flash a door opened, as it were in the side of the 
 hill, and a great light blazed in my eyes, so that I 
 could not see. A number of men sprang on me all at 
 once, and dragged me in. The door was shut to, and 
 there was a knife at my throat. 
 
 Then I prayed for the stone spout of the Wolfs 
 Slock. I was out of the throat truly, but I was among 
 the wolf's teeth here. I had scouted the corbie, but I 
 was in the erne's claws — which neat expressions I did 
 not think of at the time.
 
 234 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 But all the more that I did not observe anything 
 clearly then, all being a dazzle — the whole of what 
 I saw as they dragged me within is printed on my 
 memory ineffaceably vivid, white and clear as the 
 angry sea with a struggling ship upon it nearing the 
 breakers, which I once saw off Rathan Head by a 
 flash of lightning. So, though blurred at the time, 
 the outlines of all that passed have now come out 
 clear to my mind. 
 
 As the dark men dragged me forward I saw other 
 two of the same breed, curly-haired, olive-skinned 
 men, hastily crushing something heavy into a chest in 
 a little back room, on the floor of which there stood 
 a candle. A smooth-faced old woman with white hair 
 was sprinkling sand all over the floor of the kitchen, 
 and a great butcher's knife lay plain to see on a deal 
 table. A fire blazed in a wide ingle, and the roof was 
 hung with hams — a cheerful place on such a night, 
 yet somehow it liked me not. 
 
 But while I saw all this the knife was at my throat. 
 The point drove inward and pricked. 
 
 The old woman seemed to finish her task, and 
 looked up. 
 
 " Let be, Gil," she said, standing with a handful of 
 white sand in one hand and a foul red cloth in the 
 other. " Let be ; ask him first his name." 
 
 The word " first " stuck in my throat, further in 
 than the knife. 
 
 " Your name ? " said one of the men kneeling on 
 my breast. 
 
 Right gladly I would have answered, but instead I 
 only rooped like a rough-legged fowl. 
 
 " Your name ? " cried he of the long locks again,
 
 IN WHICH I LIE BRAVELY. 235 
 
 setting his knee in my ribs till I thought he had sent 
 the immortal soul flying out of my mouth as a chewed 
 tow bullet is shot from a boy's popgun. 
 
 " Speak ! " he yelled, more fiercely than ever. 
 
 It was a most unreasonable request in the circum- 
 stances, yet as my eyes goggled I tried to speak, but 
 instead I only crowed like a cock. The others pulled 
 the man off and propped me up against the ingle 
 cheek. 
 
 " No hurry," said they, giving him a look that 
 went to my marrow more than the knife. I began to 
 like Gil's ways best. I was ever for getting medicine 
 over quickly, and there are worse ways of dying than 
 the knife — which indeed is nothing after the sharpness 
 of it, as a pin does not hurt when you put it into the 
 thick of your leg up to the head, after the first prick 
 of the skin. A ploy which you can try or take my 
 word for, just as you please. 
 
 "Hand him a drench," said the old woman, bending 
 down a face as smooth as an eggshell and as false as a 
 deal door painted mahogany. 
 
 They gave me something that tasted like liquid fire 
 and burned as it ran down. I began to pick up my 
 power of words. 
 
 " Now, honey, your name ? " said the old woman 
 softly, putting back her white locks. Her hair was 
 yellow white of a strange dry texture, but there was a 
 dirty rusty mark across it as if she had wiped some- 
 thing upon it — her hand or a knife, belike. They 
 were altogether too ready with both in this house for 
 me. 
 
 "Patrick Burgess," said I, telling as little of a lie as 
 I could. Burgess was my mother's name, and as I
 
 236 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 was her sole heir and successor, surely that name was 
 mine too — if it was anybody's, which I fear it was 
 not. 
 
 "Aye, Paitrick Burgess," said she. " It is a bonny 
 name, and whaur micht ye come frae, Paitrick ? " 
 
 The dialect reassured me amazingly. No one could 
 speak good Galloway Scots and be a complete black- 
 guard. But concerning this also I had early news. 
 
 "I come from the New Aibbey," I said. 
 
 " Ye are far frae hame, bonny laddie," said Mother 
 Eggface, speaking softly, but with a dangerous glinting 
 glance in her eyes that I liked not. "What brocht 
 ye sae far on sic a nicht ? " 
 
 She might well ask that. 
 
 So I prayed the Almighty that I might be enabled 
 to lie well. For my own part I intended to do my 
 best, and I think I got grace. 
 
 " I am a peddler by trade," said I. " I am on my 
 way to Dalmellington, and I have lost my way." 
 
 This last statement comforted me mightily, for by 
 accident it was true. I had indeed lost my way and 
 had most foully sped. 
 
 "Good Master Peddler, Patrick Burgess, bound 
 from the New Abbey, and where might your pack 
 be ? Hast lost that also ? " 
 
 She had fallen back into the English, which I like 
 not, save in the Bible. There was also a dry and 
 deadly mockery in her tone, which made me dislike 
 this old woman worst of them all. 
 
 " Settle him first, and seek his story after," said one 
 of the men genially. " He'll carry it about him 
 somewhere." 
 
 Eggface looked at him with a glance like the light
 
 IN WHICH I LIE BRAVELY. 237 
 
 on a new knife when the blue sky is reflected on the 
 untarnished blade, and he sat down and took a drink, 
 saying no more for a while. 
 
 But I lied on and on for my very existence, never 
 ceasing the praying, and I think, getting aid to lie, 
 though whether from above or below I cannot for the 
 life of me say. Yet sometimes the devil plays pranks 
 upon his own, and if he helped me with my fictions 
 that time, I do declare that I shall never speak a bad 
 word of him as long as I live — which indeed is little 
 use at the best of times, and shows neither forecast 
 nor service. 
 
 " I am on my way to Dalmellington to take 
 delivery of a new pack of goods brought by the 
 carrier from Glasgow," I ventured. 
 
 " What is the name of that carrier ? " put in a man 
 from the back. 
 
 " Richard Brown, and a decent man," said I, like a 
 flash. 
 
 Now either Providence or Ye-ken-wha was at my 
 elbow, and I answered like the carritches (Shorter 
 Catechism). Never was such lying since the Garden 
 of Eden. I did not know I could master it so well. 
 
 The man at the back grunted and began whittling 
 a stick. 
 
 Knives again — routh of knives. 
 I give thanks, not so much that Silver Sand had 
 told me, in one of his many stories of this Dalmelling- 
 ton carrier's name, as that my memory had served me 
 — for it plays me awkward tricks sometimes, speciallv 
 with strange folks' names, and that more especially of 
 late years. 
 
 " What said ye yer name was ? " said the old dame
 
 238 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 again, looking at me with her gimlet eyes. What 
 business has a woman to have eyes with three-cornered 
 pupils that look at you like baggonets ? 
 
 " Patrick Burgess," said I. 
 
 And I had nearly said " Heron " berore I re- 
 membered, and would too but for the thought of the 
 knife. Iron sharpeneth iron, also my wits. 
 
 She turned round. " Ivie," she said, abruptly. 
 
 A great hulk lying in the corner grunted. 
 
 " Kick him awake somebody," she ordered, without 
 looking at the lout, still keeping the gimlets fixed on me. 
 
 The long-haired tyke called Gil took my piked 
 kent and thrust it into his ribs, which made the 
 giant to grunt, exactly like a great swine that lies all 
 abroad in the filth of the ree when you put your stick 
 into it. 
 
 " Rise and speak to granny," said he of the locks. 
 
 " A sweet granny," thought I, but all the same I 
 tried to appear happy, thawing myself serenely before 
 the fire, and thinking of more lies. Now lies like 
 mine will not be thought upon. They must come 
 spontaneously or not at all. I was in danger of 
 spilling my cup of sack by running on to show how 
 well I could carry it. 
 
 The hog arose. 
 
 The hog rubbed his midrib and grunted an interro- 
 gative. He wanted to know why he had been awaked. 
 
 Granny turned her eye on him and said, " Dost 
 know any of the name of Burgess at the New 
 Abbey ? " 
 
 The hog scratched among his bristles, grumbling. 
 
 " Give him the kent ! " she said ; " he'll be asleep 
 again."
 
 IN WHICH I LIE BRAVELY. 239 
 
 Gil took up the kent and dug it in once more, 
 strong and good. 
 
 Whereat Hog turned like a heathercat, snarling 
 with a flashing of white teeth, and red murder leaping 
 up in his eyes like flame at the touch-hole of a musket. 
 
 " Let a man be, canna ye; I'll knife the next brute," 
 he said, recognising his comrade's rank in creation. 
 
 Then he rubbed his head, and said slowly, " Man o 
 the name o' Burgess at the New Aibbey ? Aye, 
 there's Isaac Burgess, the pig dealer — a fine man, an' 
 a freend o' my ain." 
 
 For my sins — my uncle, brother of my mother ; as 
 rank a rogue as ever smelled Hollands gin. 
 
 " Here is a nefFy o' his, or says he is. Sit up an' see 
 if ye ken him." 
 
 It was a trying moment. 
 
 " Aye," said the hog, slowly, " ye favour him — ye'll 
 be the son o' John that gaed awa' and took to the 
 pack ! " 
 
 " A good hog i' faith ! " I thought, but yet if so be 
 that I favour mine uncle, it is little wonder that my 
 success has been small among the womenkind. For, 
 indeed, he was as ugly as the man of sin. 
 
 But so far I was saved. I was a pedlar, and I had 
 told the truth. At this there was a general relaxing 
 of strained attention. The men began to polish up 
 their guns and pistols. 
 
 As if the occupation of the others struck him, and 
 the subject reminded him that I was inconvenienced, 
 Gil — that long-haired thief — walked over to me and 
 said, "Your pistols are in your road. I'll take care 
 o' them for you." 
 
 The other men turned to see how I would take this.
 
 240 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I gave the weapons to him, pulling them out of my 
 belt, as well as my jockteleg with the horn handle, 
 which I also gave him in hand. 
 
 Then I lay back and stretched all my bones as 
 though I were glad to be rid of them. But I now 
 kept feeling my throat grow sorer than ever where 
 Gil's knife had been. I was reeking all the time like 
 a lime-kiln before the fire. The old woman came to 
 stir the pot now and again. She kept eyeing me as I 
 toasted first one foot and then the other, taking oft 
 my wet brogues to do it, and commenting on the 
 cleanliness of the house at my leisure. I told them 
 what a night it was outside, and how glad of heart 
 I was to have a roof over my head. 
 
 " 'Deed," said Granny Eggface, " it's no' a nicht to 
 set a dog oot o' doors — let alane a lad like you. But 
 you are far oot o' the road to Dalmellington, laddie. 
 What took ye up the Wolf's Slock ? Da'mellington 
 disna lie on the top o' a hill that ever I heard ! " 
 
 "I was striking a short cut for Loch Doon," said I, 
 for lying now came as easy as breathing. I toasted 
 my feet at the fire, setting them on the hot hearth- 
 stone to dry. The pot boiled and fufFed out little 
 puffs of steam, and gave forth a warm and comfortable 
 smell, full of promise. I began to feel more at home. 
 
 Eggface went to the foot of a ladder that reached 
 up to a room above — a mere garret it seemed to me, 
 under the roof. " Come doon, bairn," she said in a 
 more human tone than I had yet heard her use. 
 
 " Come now, we'll do yet. When a child comes 
 in the devil flies out at the window!" said I within 
 myself, as I heard a light foot on the stairs. But I 
 forgot that he came in again.
 
 IN WHICH I LIE BRAVELY. 241 
 
 A little girl of six came downstairs, looking terribly 
 thin and pinched ; yet a well-grown girl withal, and 
 one that would soon fill out with due nourishment. 
 
 The old woman set her to washing the tables and 
 laying wooden basins round the board. I counted 
 them. There was none set for me. This was not 
 so good, for my inside cried aloud for lining and 
 cargo. 
 
 But I kept watching the child. She was, as I said, 
 pinched and haggard. Her eye was full and clear. 
 Yet she shrunk at the least sound, and only answered 
 " Yes " and " No " when she was directly spoken to. 
 One of the men kicked her as she passed, because that 
 in looking at her plates she had stumbled over his foot. 
 The kick was but a slight one, and did not hurt, even 
 if it reached her. But the girl winced and moaned, 
 with a look of fear that went to my heart. 
 
 Granny Eggface turned sharply with inquiry in her 
 look, holding a heavy potato beetle in her hand. Her 
 eye flushed into sudden anger as she noted the cause. 
 With a strength that I could not have believed to 
 reside in that skinny form, she delivered the fellow the 
 heavy end of the beetle on the side of his thick head 
 with a dull sound, and stretched him senseless along 
 the wall. 
 
 " I'll learn you to meddle the bairn," she said. " The 
 next time we'll see what ye hae inside ye, ye sumph ! " 
 
 The other men laughed a little at this, saying, 
 "Served him richt, Granny, the muckle hullion ! " 
 
 And the Good Hog laughed aloud, till the stricken 
 man, arousing, looked evilly at him. Gil, who, under 
 granny of the Eggface, seemed to be somewhat of a 
 leader, set a fiery brand to his tail and bade him rise. 
 
 16
 
 242 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 This he did right sulkily, and with no pleasant expres- 
 sion in his face. 
 
 When the supper was served it was a fragrant stew 
 of all sorts of meat, boiled with vegetable to a kind 
 of pottage, very nutritious. 
 
 The men spoke among themselves in a language of 
 which I could make nothing, the old woman joining 
 them with a stray word. 
 
 The little girl and I sat apart. She dipped a tin 
 skillet in the pot and gave it to me with a whole 
 partridge in it, and much of the fragrant stew. I 
 thought it was a good opportunity to thank Eggface 
 for her hospitality, and to say that it was a blessing 
 that there was such a house in so wild a place. 
 
 " Aye," she said, dryly, " it's fortunate in mair ways 
 than yin. We often hae a veesitor for a nicht, but 
 they seldom stay muckle langer. The air's tryin' to 
 the health up by Loch Enoch and the Dungeon, ye 
 see ! " 
 
 "What kind of travellers come mostly ? " I asked, 
 as carelessly as I could. 
 
 " Oh, nearly every sort," said Eggface. " We had 
 a stranger last nicht, nae farther gane, an', indeed, we 
 hae hardly gotten redd up after him yet." 
 
 Gil frowned and shook his head at her. But the 
 old witch-wife only chunnered and laughed to herself. 
 
 " Hoots," she said to Gil, "it'll be a' the same in a 
 hunner year — or maybe less." 
 
 Which was thought among them to be an extra- 
 ordinary fine joke, and the whole table laughed at it 
 consumedly. For my part I saw not the fun of the 
 jest — nor do I yet — to make such a cackle over the 
 laying of it. But it's easy for the dominie to get
 
 IN WHICH I LIE BRAVELY. 24.3 
 
 a laugh in the school, standing with the taws in his 
 hand. 
 
 " What kind o' guids do ye travel in ? " asked the 
 old lady when they were at supper, looking over her 
 shoulder at me. 
 
 I told her dress pieces — remnants, laces, Welsh 
 flannel, and other things for the good-wives and farm 
 maids of Galloway and Ayrshire." 
 
 " How d'ye pay for them at Da'mellington ? ' 
 
 "Wi' the siller I got for the last pack," I said, 
 thinking myself wondrous clever. " I hae it wi' me 
 the noo ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 THE BLACK SEA-CHEST. 
 
 I thought this was my best shot. It was, in fact, 
 my worst, and undid any good that might have 
 accrued to me from the lies that I had told before. It 
 was ever thus. 'Tis little use taking one of the 
 devil's farms. His tacks are so short, and there are 
 no compensations for disturbance. 
 
 I had barely spoken when I saw the whole party 
 look at one another, and the little lass steal away with 
 a quivering lip. She slipped quietly upstairs. 
 
 " What's that ye're takin' up the stairs r " cried the 
 old woman, sharply. 
 
 " Juist a basin o 1 stew," said the little girl. 
 
 " Come here, and let me see it," commanded the 
 old ladv. 
 
 " Noo, ye'll be tired," said grannie in a little, " and 
 ye had better gang to yer bed, my man, for we maun 
 be up betimes in the mornin'. I like nae lazy banes 
 in my hoose." 
 
 I said this accorded well with my own wishes. 
 
 At the word she lighted a rush dip candle of the 
 
 thinnest kind, and showed me into the little back 
 
 room, the door of which had stood open all the 
 
 244
 
 THE BLACK SEA-CHEST. 245 
 
 evening. It was furnished with a creepie stool, a 
 bed, and a great black sea-chest. 
 
 " And a guid e'en to ye," said the old woman, as 
 she shut the door. 
 
 So there I stood, with my brogues in my one hand 
 and my rushlight in the other, and surveyed my 
 narrow chamber. I turned down the bedclothes. 
 They were clean sheets that had never been slept in 
 but once or twice. But I turned down the sheet 
 also, for I am particular in these matters. Something 
 black and glutinous was clogged and hardened on the 
 bed. I turned up the bed. The dark, red stuff had 
 soaked through and dripped on the earthen floor. It 
 was not yet dry, though some sand had been thrown 
 upon it. I did not need to examine further as to the 
 nature of the substance. I turned sick at heart, and 
 gave myself up for lost. But it was necessary that I 
 should make the best of things, even if I were to die. 
 So next I lifted the lid of the great sea-chest. 
 
 Merciful Heaven ! The back of a dead man, broad 
 and naked, took my eye. There were two open 
 gashes on the right side, livid and ghastly. The rest 
 of the man seemed to be cut up and piled within, as a 
 winter bullock is pressed into a salt barrel ready for 
 the brine. 
 
 Now that God who had preserved me from so many 
 perils, and has forgiven me for the lies I told (it may 
 be sending some seraph to take up the attention of the 
 Recording Angel), helped me again in this horrid 
 strait. 
 
 At any rate, it is of His supreme and undeserved 
 mercy that I did not swarf (swoon) away then, or let 
 the lid of the great chest fall with a clang. Indeed, I
 
 246 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 put it very softly down, took off my coat, and knelt 
 down to pray. I know not if indeed I prayed, but I 
 bent my knees. And as I knelt, I was aware of one 
 that came to the door and spied upon me through the 
 latch-hole, then went and reported what he saw — 
 whereat there was a laugh, as at one who had good 
 cause to say his prayers. As indeed I had. 
 
 While I knelt in the still hush after the great 
 guffaw of laughter, I heard the noise of a woman 
 sobbing above somewhere ; not the child, but the 
 slower, sharper sob of a woman. 
 
 Also somewhere about the house some one whetted 
 at a knife. 
 
 As I arose to my feet a folded piece of paper 
 fluttered down as from a crack in the black boards 
 of the ceiling. I took it in my hand as I went 
 shuffling bedward. There was writing upon it. 
 
 " For God's sake try the window. You are near your 
 end by cruel men. The Murder Hole gapes wide. A 
 friend writes this." 
 
 Then there was written below in smaller cha- 
 racters — 
 
 " If by any chance you that read are Patrick Heron, 
 I that write am May Maxwell. And be you who you 
 may, God pity you ! " 
 
 Again the Lord of Hosts was my help, else had I 
 died even then, so compassed with wonders and so 
 overladen with horrors was I. 
 
 The Murder Hole — foul and notorious was its
 
 THE BLACK SEA-CHEST. 247 
 
 name. There had long been the tradition or such 
 a place in the stories that went about the countryside, 
 and made our flesh creep as we told tales by the fire 
 in the winter forenights. I had never been a be- 
 liever in such like, accounting it foolish clatter j but 
 now it seemed likely that I should learn something 
 very definite concerning it. 
 
 Yet I went to the bed and threw myself down, 
 taking first a look at the window to see what like the 
 fastenings of it might be. They were of thick wood, 
 but looked old and worm-eaten. 
 
 As I lay on my bed a whirling universe of thoughts 
 buzzed through my mind. Dark, tremendous clouds 
 tracked each other across my brain. Yet, so strange 
 a thing is man — or at least am I — that I was in danger 
 of falling asleep. Indeed I may have really done so, 
 for I awakened with a start of horror. The cold 
 sweat burst over me as I realised my position. I 
 sprang to the window and tried it. It was fast. I 
 had to kneel on the sea-chest the while, the cold 
 thrills chasing one another up my spine, like darning- 
 needles of ice. 
 
 I groped round for something to use as a lever. 
 By good fortune my hand touched my own " kent," 
 which Gil had thrown there when he had done 
 exploring the Hog's ribs with its iron prod. I took 
 it, and inserted the point under the frame between 
 the stone wall and the wood. Being glazed only 
 with sheepskin the window made no jangling of 
 glass when it gave outward. I threw myself at the 
 little square of open space. There was a swirl just 
 there, and only a slight cold draught sucked in. Had 
 the opening been on the stormy side, the gust must
 
 248 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 have roused the men who slept or lay on the floor in 
 the next room. 
 
 I was outside in a moment and had replaced the 
 window, that I might have the longer time without 
 discovery. I found myself in a narrow passage 
 between the rock of the hillside and the wall of the 
 cottage, which was all but built against the precipice. 
 
 Climbing up the rock I crept slowly along the 
 thatch, feeling for an opening into the room whence 
 the letter had fallen. With a throb of fear that 
 was almost delirious, my hand suddenly encountered 
 a hand stretched out in the darkness — a human hand 
 which closed upon mine. It was as startling as 
 though it had come up from the grave ; but it was 
 warm and small, and among ten millions I had sworn 
 to it as the hand of May Maxwell, whom my heart 
 called May Mischief. 
 
 I pulled the little hand up, but the little hand 
 pulled me down. In a moment my ear was close to 
 her lips. There was only a little skylight unglazed, 
 like the window, but far too small to let any one 
 through. 
 
 " Run for your life, Patrick ! Oh, they are cruel ! 
 They show no mercy ! " she said. 
 
 " Go I never shall without you," said I. " What ! 
 Leave you — you that I came to save ? " 
 
 " You must," she said. " They will not kill me. 
 And — and — I have a knife ! " 
 
 " Give me that knife ! " said I. 
 
 She leapt down like a feather and handed me up a 
 great knife, which was almost like a sword set in a 
 haft. 
 
 Readily I cut away the thatch till I felt the skylight
 
 THE BLACK SEA-CHEST, 249 
 
 about to fall on the floor. " Catch it, May," 1 said 
 softly ; and the next moment the iron frame gave 
 way and fell into her lap, for in the darkness she was 
 holding out her dress, as I had told her. 
 
 This also she laid down so that there was no noise. 
 " But the little maid," she said ; "she is in the next 
 room asleep ? " 
 
 " Her they will not harm. We must get help," I 
 said hastily, to get May away ; for, to my shame, I 
 thought only of her. 
 
 She tripped down again, swung a bag about her by 
 a strap, and was beside me in a twinkling. 
 
 We slid off the roof and found ourselves on the 
 ground in a moment. Then hand in hand we stole 
 out of the lee of Craignairny into the wild war of 
 the elements. The wilder the better for us. I had 
 meant to try the Wolf's Slock, but two things forbade 
 me ; first, the murderers knew that that was the way 
 I had come ; and, second, there was that terrible spout 
 of broken stone which must be crossed. 
 
 We stood towards the west along the margin of a 
 loch that was lashing its waves on a rocky shore — a 
 wild, tormented chaos of greyness. This I now know 
 to have been Loch Enoch. Since then I have often 
 and often followed our course that night with men 
 of the hills who knew the ground, so that I am now 
 able to give the names of the localities, which I had 
 not been able to do then when the places were as new 
 to me as the city of Solyman.
 
 CHAPTER XXIX. 
 
 THE MURDER HOLE. 
 
 It seemed as though we had only gone a hundred 
 yards when behind us we heard a fearsome crying, 
 " The pedlar has escaped — the pedlar has escaped ! 
 Loose the bloodhounds ! " 
 
 At this perilous outcry May and I instantly set off 
 running at the top of our speed, and by the guiding 
 of Providence we managed to run a long way, keeping 
 our feet somehow among those slippery screes that lie 
 between Craignairny and Craig Neldricken. 
 
 It was indeed an uncanny night. The wind shrieked 
 overhead, passing above us in a constant screaming 
 yell, that sometimes sharpened into a whistle and anon 
 dulled into a roar. There was no moon ; but the 
 storm-clouds had thinned, and anon the mist lifted. 
 The wind scattered the thick, white clouds and threw 
 a strange semi-darkness over the wild moorland. 
 
 Behind us we now heard that most terrible of 
 sounds — the baying of bloodhounds on the trail of 
 blood. May Maxwell ran steadily, with her hand in 
 mine. 
 
 " I have another knife ; carry you that too ! " she 
 
 said. 
 
 250
 
 THE MURDER HOLE. 251 
 
 " But you may need it," I urged. 
 
 " Indeed I may," she said ; " but I want to carry 
 my skirt." 
 
 I thought I understood women. So do you. We 
 are both in the wrong, my good sir — we know 
 nothing about the matter. 
 
 Behind us on the uneven wind, high above its top 
 note, rose the crying of the hounds. 
 
 " How many ? " I said, with scanty breath. 
 
 " Two," she said as briefly. 
 
 We came to the bed of a little burn that trickled 
 down the steep sides of the Clints of Neldricken. I 
 went first, feeling with my " kent," striking from 
 side to side like a blind man because of the darkness. 
 
 Sometimes as we scrambled down I would catch 
 her by the waist and run with her many yards before 
 I set her down, then on again as though I had carried 
 a feather. So we ran our wild race, and I think gained 
 on our pursuers. 
 
 Lanterns began to dance on the slopes above us — 
 that frowning many buttressed table-land, the outlaw's 
 fortress, which we were leaving. Only the booming 
 of the dogs came nearer. We ran on downwards and 
 still down. We seemed to leave the ground beneath 
 us. We passed a little tarn among the rocks which 
 has for name Loch Arrow, and then on again among 
 the heather. 
 
 Suddenly in trying to lift May Maxwell I stumbled 
 all my length on a heap of stones, dashing myself on 
 the sharp corners till I felt the rough granite dint into 
 my flesh. 
 
 I fell with my head on a stone, and knew no more. 
 
 When I came to myself May Maxwell had me in
 
 252 THE RATDERS. 
 
 her arms, and was trying to stagger away from the 
 place where I had fallen ; but it was too much ; we 
 dropped together on the heather. 
 
 And again I weakly fainted — I that had resolved to 
 do so much. Now I seemed to lie for a long time 
 void of speech and hearing, the blood draining from 
 my head and my brain reeling. 
 
 But I had a dream which was more vivid than the 
 yelling of the bloodhounds. 
 
 This is what I dreamed, as it were in a flash ot 
 great clearness. I thought that May Maxwell took 
 me in her arms, saying, " I will kiss him once before 
 I die. Only once — for I love him and he is mine. 
 He came all alone to find me, when my own had 
 forsaken me. And he did find me, and we shall die 
 together." 
 
 Then in my dream May Maxwell gave me not one, 
 but many kisses, and so laid me down. But I knew 
 it was a dream. It could be no other. 
 
 Then I awoke, and in the brighter light — for the 
 sky was now swept clear of clouds — I saw May Max- 
 well with a knife in either hand, and so changed was 
 she that I hardly knew her. She crouched as it were 
 like a lithe, wild cat on the spring, and there was 
 glinting fire in her eyes. Down the wind came the 
 baying very near, and the soft gallop of the feet on 
 the heather. Then like a bolt came a great dog out 
 of the darkness, with white fangs dripping froth. 
 Voiceless it sprang at May, but with the knife in her 
 hand this girl, that had held up her skirt as she ran, 
 thrust the steel with more force than many a man 
 into the open mouth of the beast, which fell roaring 
 and snapping upon the iron. Yet she recovered the
 
 THE MURDER HOLE. 253 
 
 weapon and struck again and again. Then another 
 brute sprang past her at me as I lay helpless, for it 
 was my trail on which the dogs had been laid. But 
 my bravest girl drove sideways with her knife as the 
 dog came on ; yet so heavy and fierce was the beast 
 that it overbore the knife, and would have fallen full 
 upon me had she not thrown herself across my breast. 
 The beast seized her left arm and bit savagely before, 
 with her right hand free, she got home the knife that 
 had been fatal to the first. The brute rolled over, 
 and with a long whine like a puppy whipped in a 
 fault, it died. 
 
 Then came behind the dancing rows of lanterns, 
 and I knew that we were doomed indeed. But there 
 was the spirit of an army of men in this girl, for she 
 knelt over me with my bleeding head on her knee, 
 set her back to the rock, and waited. 
 
 It had not been good for the first man who should 
 come this way. 
 
 Now we were on a platform on the north side of 
 Loch Neldricken, but close down by the waterside. 
 There was a strange thing beneath us. It was a 
 part of this eastermost end of the loch, level as a 
 green where they play bowls, and in daylight of the 
 same smooth colour, but in the midst a black round 
 eye of water, oily and murky, as though it were with- 
 out a bottom, and the water a little arched in the 
 middle — a most unwholesome place to look upon. 
 
 As she knelt over me May Maxwell pointed it out 
 to me, with the knife which was in her hand. 
 
 "That is their Murder Hole," she said, "but if 
 we are to lie there we shall not lie there without 
 company."
 
 254 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 The lights of the pursuers were dancing now among 
 the heather, and their cries came from here and there, 
 scattered and broken. 
 
 In a little, waiting thus together, we could see 
 Gil clear against the sky. He also could see us, for 
 he cried out to the outlaws behind him. 
 
 But in that moment of great terror, when my love 
 knelt beside me — who, alas ! in that time of need was 
 no better than a log — suddenly something vast and 
 terrible sprang past me — a shaggy beast infinitely 
 greater than the dead bloodhounds, followed by another 
 beast, less in size but even swifter in action. They 
 were the same we had seen together that first night 
 in the kirkyard of Kirk Oswald. These flashed out 
 of sight and disappeared in the direction of our pursuers. 
 It was the Ghost Hunters that hunted only at the 
 Dark of the Moon. 
 
 Gil turned in his tracks and began to flee. 
 " The Loathly Beasts ! " we heard them cry, " the 
 Witch Dogs are out ! " 
 
 Then there was a shriek of pure animal terror, 
 the lights darkened, and the cries reeled hither and 
 thither — but not now of hunters encouraging each 
 other, rather of men fleeing singly in the deadliest 
 terror and crying out as they ran. 
 
 " Oh, the Beasts — they are not of this earth," cried 
 May, holding my hand tightly. "Oh, Patrick, do 
 not faint away again and leave me all my lone." 
 
 At this appeal I sat up and looked about. The 
 two dead beasts were lying there. May took a 
 napkin out of her bag and very tenderly wiped my 
 face. Then she put it back and dropped, unconscious 
 herself, into my arms.
 
 THE MURDER HOLE. 255 
 
 So we were lying side by side when suddenly Silver 
 Sand came and found us. So near were we, that the 
 dead bloodhounds had blown their bloody froth upon 
 us in their gasping. Silver Sand brought water from 
 Loch Neldricken to throw on May's face. 
 
 " Not from the Murder Hole," I cried in terror, 
 " from the burn." 
 
 So he went again and brought it and she awoke. 
 
 " What was the terrible beast ? " she said, clutching 
 me. 
 
 " It was no greater beast than I," said Silver Sand, 
 " my twisted arms are turned the wrong way about 
 for some good purpose. 'Twas but a matter o' a hair 
 coat, a little phosphorus, and Guharrie." 
 
 " But we must budge," said he. " Can ye move ? ' : 
 he asked anxiously. 
 
 " I think so," answered I cautiously. 
 
 He tried my limbs and got me on my feet. 
 
 " Where does it hurt ? " he asked. 
 
 " In my head," I said. 
 
 " That is good," said he, " that's thick aneuch. 
 Try the walkin'." 
 
 I soon found that, though misty and dizzy, I could 
 yet walk a little. So we set off — May Maxwell and 
 Silver Sand supporting me. 
 
 The night wind blew on my wounded head, cooling 
 it, and May Maxwell's arm was about me. I could 
 have walked to Jericho. 
 
 "There's horses at the Gairland Burn," said Silver 
 Sand, encouragingly; "it was touch and go that 
 time, whatever, but we'll waur them yet."
 
 CHAPTER XXX. 
 
 A WOOING NOT LONG A-DOING. 
 
 It was partly no doubt my wound, but partly also 
 an exaltation of all my faculties, which made me spring 
 forward as though I could not only have walked, but 
 almost flown. The stroke I had gotten on my head, 
 the bitter conflict I had seen, yet been utterly unable 
 to take part in — the sweet dream I had dreamed, all 
 acted on my senses like wine on an empty stomach. 
 
 There was no one like May Maxwell, and I had 
 seen her fight for me. This is what I kept thinking. 
 And was there any blame ? 
 
 We were making down the glen of the Midburn 
 as swiftly as we might. We could hear it hurry- 
 ing, quite as eager to escape out of the Accursed 
 Country as we ourselves. Silver Sand kept his ears 
 set backwards ; and Ouharrie, instead of marching 
 before us as was his wont, patrolled behind us, going 
 from side to side, and occasionally taking a scour 
 up over the rugged boulders on the side of Meaul 
 which rose immanent above us. 
 
 " I think they have gotten a bellyful," said Silver 
 Sand. 
 
 " The Faas ? " I returned interrogatively. 
 
 256
 
 A WOOING NOT LONG A-DOING. 25; 
 
 " Na — no the Faas," he said, with a sudden and 
 strange temper, " what for need ye be aye speakin' o' 
 the Faas. Yon landloupers were no Faas. They 
 were of the Macatericks — a bad black blood." 
 
 " What matter ? " said I, mightily contented. 
 Faas or the devil they might be for me, if only they 
 would let us alone. 
 
 We passed a great sheep ree on our left. Silver 
 Sand pointed it out. 
 
 " Had the worst come to the worst," he said, 
 "we micht hae focht that place again' a dozen 
 Macatericks." 
 
 We saw it only dimly through the starlight, so we 
 could not remark the great stones of which it was 
 built, set firm and solid upon a breastwork of the 
 ancientest rocks of the world. But my heart was no 
 more for fighting. There was a smell of blood in 
 my nostrils, and the broad of that poor fellow's back 
 stuck yonder in the sea-chest, lay heavy on my mind. 
 I could not rid mvself of it. 
 
 Then awav we went again, Silver Sand, though 
 both twisted and slender, almost carrying me in his 
 arms, and May Maxwell, saying the while no word, 
 but helping even more than he. We were soon at 
 the spur of Loch Valley, and heard the crunching 
 of the granite sand along its margin underfoot. It 
 was precious to the feet after the miles of heather. 
 The Loch chafed behind us, crisping white on the 
 shore. It seemed to run an incredible way eastward, 
 clapping against the ledges of its rocky basin, while 
 the little waves seemed to applaud our haste. And, 
 indeed, we strove to deserve those soft-palmed 
 plaudits. 
 
 17
 
 258 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 A watcher from somewhere cried out a word at 
 us, and in the same tone and tongue he was answered 
 by Silver Sand — the sudden voices sounding startling 
 on the chill night air. But whether he was one of 
 the outlaw breed, or an ally of Silver Sand I did not 
 then know. There was something glimmering before 
 us. This torrent roaring white was but the Gairland 
 Burn seen through the darkness, and I began to 
 speculate on the horses and how far it would be. 
 
 " Courage," said Silver Sand, " they are under that 
 star ! " 
 
 Which was a comfort — but so was Rome. 
 
 " If they be not within a mile I am sped," I said, 
 " I can go on farther." 
 
 " They are within half a mile," he said gently, as 
 though he had been speaking to a complaining child. 
 
 So we went on. May Maxwell was so quickly 
 and readily kind, that the tears rained down on my 
 cheeks to think of her and of her goodness. Even 
 in the starlight she seemed to feel by some hidden or 
 second sight of her own, whenever the red dew on my 
 brow which distilled from my wound, was in danger 
 of running down into my eyes, and she wiped it 
 with linen, soft as a napkin, which she carried about 
 with her. The touch of her hand upon me was 
 gentle as gossamer and cool as the night. 
 
 " Horses at the Gairland ! " said Silver Sand again, 
 " courage — Laird." 
 
 A poor laird, poor as his lairdship. But the pres- 
 sure of May Mischief's hand was more helpful than 
 the words of Silver Sand. 
 
 We heard a whaup crying fitfully in the night 
 down in the narrow darkness by the burn side.
 
 A WOOING NOT LONG A-DOING. 259 
 
 Silver Sand paused, put his hand to his mouth like 
 a trumpet, and beat softly upon it with the other. 
 Instantly the tremulous whirr of the snipe when it 
 drops sidelong began in the air above us, so mar- 
 vellously counterfeited, that even we that saw could 
 hardly believe that it was possible. Yet it was a 
 thing I could do well myself, as you shall hear. For 
 sometime before this we had been descending rapidly, 
 and the exertion of going downward seemed to send 
 the blood to my head. I reeled and quivered in act 
 to fall. 
 
 May Maxwell slipped from my arm and went in 
 front of me. " Put your hands on my shoulders ! " 
 she said, " and lean on me as you go." 
 
 " But I shall hurt you," I said. 
 
 " Ye will hurt me far mair if ye dinna," she 
 replied quickly. 
 
 Still I hesitated, but Silver Sand, who walked 
 beside me with his arm about me, said, " Do as 
 the lassie tells ye. She has good sense — better than 
 you." 
 
 Now I thought that was rather hard on me, who 
 had borne the bitter with the sweet that night, before 
 ever Ouharrie and his master came. And the saying 
 grieved me a little, being at the time weak and 
 childish. 
 
 Yet it is strange that from the front, whence she 
 could not see me, May Maxwell said, " But Patrick 
 had good sense too, or I would not have been here by 
 now." 
 
 She spoke the English, being somewhat moved. 
 
 "Good ! " said Silver Sand, for all answer. 
 
 As we went it was strangely delightsome to lean
 
 260 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 my hands on May Maxwell's little shoulders, first 
 one and then the other, but the ground was too 
 uneven to permit me to place both there at once. 
 But a strange warm magic — white magic — passed up 
 my arm and settled happily about my heart. 
 
 Suddenly we came to ground which was somewhat 
 more level. The terrible pressure upon my wounded 
 head, which came of going downhill, ceased; and some 
 great shapes which moved rose out of the dim star- 
 light. 
 
 Silver Sand ran forward and said some words. A 
 man stole ofF, up the waterside, jumping across it in 
 running skips like a dipper bird. We were on the 
 verge of the little island called Gale Island, and the 
 man ran westward along Loch Trool. 
 
 Three shelties stood patiently tethered together. 
 Silver Sand helped me on one. 
 
 " Can you sit ? " he said. 
 
 I could sit, indeed, but felt not so sure of riding. 
 
 Then in a minute we were steadily moving along 
 the edge of the Loch of Trool. The path was no 
 more than a peat waggon track, and rough beyond 
 the understanding of southern folk. Silver Sand went 
 first, I came next, and May Maxwell came last and 
 seemed to be lagging. 
 
 I turned as well as I could. 
 
 " Ride across, May," I said ; " this is a terrible road, 
 and no saddle." 
 
 But she did not answer a word. Now she had always 
 so ridden in the old days when I went for the milk 
 to Craigdarroch, and she tormented me. But now, 
 though her tongue of old had been so ready, she had 
 not a word to throw at me. But since it was yet the
 
 A WOOING NOT LONG A-.DOING. 261 
 
 dim starlight, though brightening into the dawn, I 
 think she did as I bade her, at least till we were past 
 the difficult narrows of Glen Trool. 
 
 The whaup we had heard before us as we came 
 down the Glen of the Gairland still went on, and its 
 pipe out of the blackness of the fringing birchwood 
 was mightily cheering. 
 
 The day was breaking as we reached a great height 
 above the lake and paused for a moment to breathe 
 our sturdy shelties. 
 
 " May ! " I said, softly. 
 
 Her pony was behind me, but she did not move 
 forward. 
 
 " May ! " I said again. 
 
 Still she came not, yet she must have heard. 
 
 " O my head ! " I said, and she was at my side in 
 a moment. 
 
 " Does it hurt ? " she said ; and by the tremble of 
 her voice I am sure she was nigh to weeping for sweet 
 pity. Yet my head was no worse than it had been. 
 
 She came up close so that she could touch my brow 
 by leaning over. Her touch healed my head, and 
 after that she rode all the way alongside. 
 
 " After all," she said, " it does not matter. It is 
 only Patrick." 
 
 Now I shall tell you an extraordinary thing. All 
 this happened on the great height above Loch Trool 
 when the morning star was turning golden-white 
 in a violet sky. May Maxwell and I never said a 
 word of love — such as asking one another whether 
 we loved each other, as lovers do in books. 
 
 But as she leaned to wipe my brow, she was of 
 necessity very near. So I set my arm about her to
 
 262 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 steady her, and being so near, and she looking up, I 
 kissed her. It can be done if the ponies are good and 
 move daintily. I, that tell you, know. 
 
 "I dreamed that in a dream," I said ere I let her 
 go j " it has come true." 
 
 Even yet I looked for her to be angry, or at least 
 to make believe. But for so lively and merry-hearted 
 a maid she took it exceedingly sedately, which I liked 
 best of all. Indeed, she kissed me back again fair and 
 frank, without shame, a good true-hearted kiss, which 
 I am proud of — Silver Sand having his back to us, 
 being busy with his pony's girths. Now I am not 
 of them who are for ever telling their kisses, but 
 that one I am proud of, and I care not who knows. 
 But I tell of no more. My tale is of grimmer 
 business. 
 
 Now I vow and declare this was all our love- 
 making. Which is strange, considering the coil that 
 is made about the affair in verse-books and ballads. 
 When we made love after that we did it of set 
 purpose, without any pretence that either of us did 
 not like it, which is not at all what I had expected 
 from May Mischief. But one never knows ! 
 
 The morning broke as we rode through the shallow 
 water of the Trool at Fordmouth, and so came out on 
 the open. Then Silver Sand flung up his cap with 
 the shaggy ears into the air and we all cried, 
 " Hurrah ! " For we were clear at last, and May 
 Maxwell was sitting again soberly and properly on 
 her sheltie like a great lady on a side-saddle.
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 MAY MISCHIEF PROVES HER METTLE. 
 
 We all dismounted by the water-edge, and May 
 came and washed my face like a child's, and bound 
 up my head with strips of linen of the finest. It was 
 warm and soft. Where she carried it I know not. 
 I had one deep cut, ragged and sore, on the right side 
 of my head, and a smaller cut by the temple, which 
 was the one that had distilled the blood and weakened 
 me. These May bathed, and Silver Sand helped her 
 to bind them up. We drank what remained of 
 Mistress Eppie's cheer. Then again mounted and 
 rode. 
 
 It was a wide, good road now, especially after we 
 turned south at the House of the Hill and rode to- 
 wards Crec Brig. There were pleasant farmhouses 
 about us, where the cocks were crowing near and 
 far, and the blue reek went up very friendly into the 
 sunshine. Men came out and looked all around them 
 at the sky, and seemed well pleased. And so were 
 we. I looked often at May Maxwell, and strangely 
 enough at these very moments she always looked at 
 
 me, though I must have been a bonny sight with my 
 
 263
 
 264 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 bandaged head and the bonnet cocked on the top or 
 the white rags. 
 
 Yet I never saw her look at me in that fashion 
 before. We rode alongside of one another, Silver 
 Sand cantering easy in front, with Ouharrie trotting 
 before him again. 
 
 I was at May's left hand, and as our horses 
 clattered along ever changing their stride, and making 
 rhythm on the hard road, I took her hand, saying, 
 " This is the hand that saved me." 
 
 " Nay, rather say this the hand that drew me out 
 of the House of Murders," she returned. 
 
 But she shuddered and lifted up her hand to her 
 face. I saw that upon it which made my blood run 
 cold. Three great fang-marks on her middle arm, 
 from which the sleeve had fallen back as she lifted 
 up her hand. 
 
 I was off my beast in a moment, crying out to 
 Silver Sand, who turned at the word. 
 
 " What a fool I was not to look," I said ; " the 
 dogs have bitten you, May." 
 
 Silver Sand looked grave. 
 
 " This must be burned," said he, briefly. 
 
 " Let me ride on to Cree Bridge," she said ; but he 
 would not hear of it. 
 
 There was a farmhouse near by, and the name of 
 it is Borgan. Kind folk live there, and it is not far 
 from a bridge where the waters come down tumbling 
 white. 
 
 Thither we went, and telling so much of our story 
 as we chose, they took us into the kitchen, and sent 
 out a boy to attend to our horses. 
 
 May asked for a knitting-needle, which being
 
 MAY MISCHIEF PROVES HER METTLE. 265 
 
 brought to her, she heated white hot among the 
 peats, and, turning, looked at me. But it was far 
 beyond me to burn it for her. Which made me 
 ashamed, because I knew that she had done the like 
 for me without the tremor of a muscle — this being 
 the way of women when they need to help those they 
 love. But I was ever a coward in such matters. So 
 May took the needle herself, turned back her sleeve, 
 and with the white point hissing a little, she made a 
 faint blue smoke (and other things), that sent me 
 down in a swarf on a settle-bed, being yet weak in 
 my head. But she faithfully burned the fang-marks ; 
 and then, sitting down beside me, asked quietly for a 
 drink of water, and gave it to me. 
 
 The kind people of the Borgan wished us much 
 to stay, but May was keen to get eastward to see her 
 brothers and her father — for I had not had the heart, 
 or indeed the time, to tell her that the old man was 
 dead. This may be thought both wicked and selfish 
 of me, insomuch that I allowed her to ride merrily 
 with me, at times touching my hand, and at other 
 times singing. Yet my heart was heavy as lead for 
 that which I had to tell her. But I could make no 
 other of it, think as I would. 
 
 I solaced myself by saying that it had not been wise 
 to tell her when yet we were in no place of safety ; 
 but as soon as we sat together in the changehouse at 
 Cree Bridge I told her plainly and tenderly, judging 
 that it was better to have it over. Yet even then 
 she said but little — only that she had judged all the 
 while that something terrible must have happened, 
 since there was no pursuit of her after her capture 
 and carrying oft*.
 
 266 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Then after a while her tears flowed suddenly, as 
 though she had not at first realised the matter. 
 
 " Oh, why did they do it ? " she cried. " He was 
 such an old man." 
 
 Then she put her hand in mine, and looking up at 
 me in a way that was fair heart-breaking, said, 
 " Patrick, you must not think of me any more. We 
 are not quiet to live with, we Maxwells ; and this, I 
 see, will be but the beginning of trouble and blood- 
 shed. My brothers will never rest till my father's 
 murderers are destroyed." 
 
 "My lass," I said, "I did not think of marrying 
 your brothers." 
 
 " Aye — but," she said sadly, " we are all the same." 
 
 " God forbid ! " said 1 — in to myself. 
 
 But on the whole she bore the tidings very well, 
 though she looked no more at me, neither gave me 
 her hand any more. Yet when we went out of the 
 changehouse, and from among the strange people 
 that looked curiously at us, she walked very close to 
 me, as though she would nestle her shoulder against 
 mine ; which comforted me much, and I think her 
 also. 
 
 She did not weep before folk, but when we were 
 once more on the road, the water ran silently down 
 her cheeks ; and I think that she forgot altogether 
 about the burns on her arm, or it may be even wished 
 that there were more of them. But all she said was 
 just this, and that over and over — "He was such an 
 old man." 
 
 But our horses' feet fell more sadly, and though 
 Silver Sand rode farther ahead there was no more 
 love-making — which I was sorry for, and wished that
 
 MAY MISCHIEF PROVES HER METTLE. 267 
 
 I had kissed her oftener — so unthankful and selfish 
 is a young man in love. 
 
 It came to me, while May thus rode sadly, to speak 
 to Silver Sand concerning the report that we should 
 give in to the Sheriff at Kirkcudbright. 
 
 To my surprise he was much opposed to this course. 
 
 " Report me nae reports," he said. " Whatna guid 
 wull the like o' that do ye ? " 
 
 " But I want it known that there is black murder 
 doing among the hills, and no man the wiser," said I. 
 
 " D'ye think the Sherra disna ken that by this 
 time ? " said Silver Sand. 
 
 "It's easy for you, my man," I said to him. "Ye 
 didna see the puir lad's bloody back in the great sea- 
 chest, nor hear the knives whetting on the sharping 
 stones to cut your ain throat." 
 
 " No this nicht, maybe," said Silver Sand ; " but 
 see here." 
 
 He opened his coat a little, and showed me the 
 blue-white scar of a great wound. " That was a 
 Macaterick knife," he said; "but I reported nae 
 reports. Only," he said, grimly, " I paid my debt." 
 
 " And what, then, shall we do ? " I said, for I was in 
 a genuine difficulty. I was a laird, though it was of 
 the smallest and poorest kind, and I was not fond of 
 private war, though I had fallen into a good deal of it 
 during the last day or two. 
 
 "This is certain," he said; "I ken the Maxwell 
 lads, and I ken the hill sneckdraws — the Marshalls 
 and the Macatericks. Neither will rest till there's 
 mair o' this." 
 
 "And the Faas ? " I asked, for Hector Faa had 
 made the deepest dint in my own reckoning, and
 
 268 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 it was with him that I chiefly desired to square 
 accounts. 
 
 Silver Sand turned in one of his sudden accesses of 
 temper. 
 
 "I tell ye," he said, firmly, "that the Faas hae 
 neither airt nor pairt in the murderings." 
 
 I longed to ask him in which camp his heart lay, 
 but for the sake of what he had done for us that 
 night, I had the limited grace to refrain. 
 
 "But what, then, was the lass that Hector Faa ran 
 away wi' doing in a house of the Macatericks ? " 
 
 " That I cannot tell," he said ; " of this I am 
 certain — Hector Faa may have had his reasons. But 
 he is no murderer." 
 
 " What, then, was that honest man doing pickled 
 in that deil's kist ? Friends o' murderers are not so 
 much better that ever I heard." 
 
 Silver Sand made answer very quietly. 
 
 " It's not well done among friends to speak in that 
 fashion. Surely Silver Sand is well enough kenned by 
 you now, that you might trust him." 
 
 Now, I had not thought of Silver Sand at all, but 
 only of Hector Faa, against whom it was small 
 wonder that I was full of anger. I told him this, 
 and his anger, the cause of which I could not then 
 imagine, cooled in a moment. 
 
 " Ye're in love, laddie, and that excuses a'." 
 
 And from that moment he resumed his ordinarv 
 placid demeanour. We passed Kirkcudbright by the 
 sea (which seemed most like a low-lying English 
 town), keeping ourselves all the while upon the crown 
 of the causeway, and were soon within sight of Rathan 
 Isle. I could see the old house shining white across
 
 MAY MISCHIEF PROVES HER METTLE. 269 
 
 the blue girdle of the sea, and my heart rose within 
 me. Here we met Kennedy Maxwell, and sent him 
 on to announce our coming. 
 
 As she went along May Maxwell kept her eyes on 
 the ground, being, I think, afraid of seeing the roofless 
 walls of Craigdarroch with the gables pointing so 
 hopelessly upward, all blackened on the inside. 
 
 Half an hour after, as we went by the way, a man 
 came across the fields toward us. He was a well-set- 
 up man in a kind of faded livery, but with moleskin 
 trousers underneath, such as labourers wear. He 
 went up to May Maxwell, who had not looked at 
 him, and with an elaborate bow said to her — 
 
 " My Lady Grizel Maxwell's compliments, and she 
 wad be pleased to see you at Earlstoun. She thinks 
 that her house is the best abiding-place for a young 
 leddy of the Maxwells, though but a second cousin." 
 
 May looked astonished. It was not so often that 
 a message had come to her from the old ladv of 
 Earlstoun. Silver Sand turned sharp round. 
 
 " I'll ride with you to Earlstoun yett (gate)," he 
 said to Mary. Then turning to the messenger, " An' 
 wha's dog whalpit you ? " he queried. 
 
 Now this was a distinctly uncivil question, and Silver 
 Sand was always well bred He told me afterwards 
 that he could not abide anything upsetting from 
 flunkies, and that (^uharrie and he always took such 
 matters into their own hands — sometimes, also, in 
 Ouharrie's own teeth. 
 
 Moleskins, however, was placable. 
 
 " Juist the bitch that was your ain dam's sister," 
 said he, pleasantly. 
 
 " Served me richt," said Silver Sand j " that's nae
 
 27° THE RAIDERS. 
 
 flunkie's answer. " What brocht ye into that 
 coat ? " 
 
 " Juist the same as brings ye ridin' on anither man's 
 beast," said the sturdy serving-man, blinking no whit 
 — " want o' siller to buy yin o' my ain." 
 
 Silver Sand looked him straight in the face, and the 
 serving-man looked straight back again, standing with 
 his hands on his hips. 
 
 " An' hoo do ye ken that this horse that I ride is 
 no my ain ? " 
 
 "Juist for the reason that that horse ye ride is 
 Johnny Faa's and cam' frae aff the Border side. I ken 
 the breed by the bonny baisoned face o' him." 
 
 Silver Sand took the word patiently, and said only, 
 " Does your mistress wish to keep young Mistress 
 Maxwell by her ? " 
 
 " I e'en believe such to be her wish and intention." 
 
 "You were in the wars, man," said Silver Sand, 
 quickly. 
 
 " Aye," said the man, " I rade wi' the wild Bon- 
 shaw. Wha rade ye wi' ? " 
 
 "Ye are a man of sense," said Silver Sand ; "and 
 men of sense ken when to haud their tongues." 
 
 "When it's worth their while," said the serving- 
 man, who had ridden with Bonshaw to the Whig 
 shooting. 
 
 " It'll be weel worth your while," said Silver Sand. 
 
 "I dinna mean siller," said the other, quickly. 
 
 " I never met a soldier that didna. Dinna be 
 blate," retorted Silver Sand. 
 
 u Weel, since ye are sae pressin'," said the other. 
 
 Something passed from hand to hand. I suspected 
 that it was a guinea or two out of the same bag which 
 had supplied me with mine.
 
 CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 I SALUTE THE LADY GRIZEL. 
 
 So we rode on to the great house of Earlstoun. Its 
 occupant was the Lady Grizel Maxwell, the daughter 
 of old Earl Maxwell, and a woman well kenned and 
 respected through all the Stewartry and farther. She 
 had her especial oddnesses, but she was known to be so 
 exceedingly hospitable that oftentimes her own table 
 was denuded in order that dainties might be sent to 
 those of her poorer neighbours. 
 
 She met us at the garden gate. She was a large 
 woman of masculine features, with a prominent nose 
 and a clear and fearless grey eye that looked unwinking 
 at each of us. 
 
 It was at Silver Sand she looked first. 
 
 " Preserve us, man !" she said ; "surely hemp's no 
 sae dear that ye can afford to risk the tow. What do 
 ye in this country ? " 
 
 Silver Sand was manifestly put out. 
 
 " I think your leddyship is mistaken," he said. 
 
 " Mistake here ! — mistake there ! — Grizel Maxwell 
 kens a " 
 
 "Wheesht, wheesht, my Leddy ! There's names 
 
 that's no for cryin' at ilka lodge-yett." 
 
 "'Deed, aye," said her ladyship, taking off the 
 
 271
 
 2j2 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 broad, blue, man's bonnet that she wore, and showing 
 a beautiful head of lint-white hair rippling away from 
 her brow, " it's one of my name that should ken that." 
 
 "Weel than ! " said Silver Sand for all answer. 
 
 She greeted May next. Opening her arms to lift 
 her down, which she did as a grenadier might dismount 
 a drummer-boy, she said — 
 
 " My dautie, you an' me has baith lost faithers ; 
 it's like the kind o' folk. The Maxwell men are 
 never like to dee in their beds. Na, they ride gaily, 
 and ye hear the clatterin' o' their spurs doon the 
 dark valley as they gang awa' to come nae mair back. 
 Ye are wae for yer faither. Come to me an' we'll 
 bide a wee, an' get it bye. It canna be helped, my 
 lassie. Ye see that coat, May, lass. There was a 
 heid ta'en aff close to the collar o' that — ye see the 
 velvet's a wee rusty. That was my faither's heid. 
 That's the way o' the Maxwells ever since they cam' 
 into this Galloway, where, indeed, they had no manner 
 o' business." 
 
 Then she turned to me, looking at me fiercely to 
 see how I stood her eye. 
 
 "An' wha may ye be, young man, that rides sae 
 free by my cousin's side ? " 
 
 Ere I had time to speak May Maxwell began to tell 
 how that, when all others had hung back, I had out- 
 ventured and saved her from the most terrible perils, 
 saying nothing as she told it, about her own doings. 
 
 " Patrick Heron o' Rathan ! An auld name, though 
 nooadays wi' but little to the tail o't. It's nocht the 
 waur o' that. 'Deed, the Maxwell's took a' but the 
 bit barren isle, an' I wot they had ta'en that had that 
 been worth their while. Aye, man, I kenned not
 
 I SALUTE THE LADY GRIZEL. 273 
 
 your faither, but your grandfather was a mettlesome 
 blade, an' mony a time met me at the end o' the 
 plantin' — just for luck and youth, ye understand ; 
 nocht else. He had the bonniest ankle and calf. 
 Aye, laddie, ye favour him aboot the leg, though 
 little aboot the features. Come doon and gie us a 
 salutation." 
 
 So I came and very respectfully gave the salute. 
 
 "'Deed, sirs, ye favour him but little aboot the 
 moo ; but I ettle that'll no be the way ye kiss a bonny 
 lass. Na, an auld cleckin' wife canna look for ocht 
 else at this time o' day. Aweel, aweel ! " 
 
 We stood before her meek as a flock of chickens, 
 and she held up her apron by the corners as if she had 
 corn within to feed us with. 
 
 " But it's a bonny like thing that ye hae to stand 
 here on the steps o' my hoose. I'm an Earl's dochter, 
 ye ken. Didna ye ken ? Gin ye dinna, there's Gib 
 Gowdie, that caa's himsel' a butler, he'll sune tell ye 
 — silly auld man, Gib ! Will ye come ben, man ? ' 
 she said to Silver Sand, who stood with his hat in his 
 hand as the gentrice do to a lady. " It's mony a day 
 since I saw ye ride aff wi' — ye-ken-wha " 
 
 But Silver Sand said, " I thank your ladyship 
 exceedingly, but I have much business to transact." 
 
 Only us two she took within the portal, and 
 closed it with her own hands, shooting the bars as in 
 a prison. We found ourselves in an immense bare 
 hall with only old buff coats and black armour hanging 
 about, and the faint light filtering down the great 
 staircase. 
 
 The Lady Grizcl went to the top of the kitchen 
 stair, which opened downwards like a great deep well. 
 
 18
 
 274 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 "Jen ! " she cried. 
 
 "Aye mem ; dinna be in a fyke, mem ! Canna ye 
 bide a wee ? I'll be there the noo." 
 
 Her ladyship stamped her foot. 
 
 " Come awa' this instant, ye impident hempie ! " 
 
 "Then your leddyship will hae to come and pook 
 the chucky, an' ye ken ye never were guid at the 
 singin' o't," said a voice from below. 
 
 "Jen!" cried Lady Grizel from the stair-head; 
 " this is past bearing. You an' me maun twine." 
 
 " An' what for that ? " inquired a black-a-vised, 
 good-natured woman of mature good looks, with very 
 red cheeks and dark eyebrows, who looked up at us 
 as we stood at the top and she at the bottom of the 
 kitchen stairs. She had a sheet about her and a great 
 pullet in her hand. " Hoot, yer leddyship, war ye 
 thinkin' o' leavin' Earlstoun ? " 
 
 " No, Jen, but gin ye canna come at my biddin', I'll 
 hae to pairt wi' you." 
 
 " Na, na, yer leddyship, ye ken brawly ye couldna 
 do that. Ye couldna put up that bonny heid o' hair 
 yersel'. Forbye, gin ye dinna ken a guid servant 
 when ye hae yin, I ken a guid mistress." 
 
 "Jen, gang to yer wark in the kitchen in a meenit," 
 cried her ladyship, turning on her heel. " Dinna 
 answer me back ! I maun e'en mak' shift to show 
 you yer ain room myseP, May ; an' you, Laird Rathan, 
 can gang to the reception-room, where ye'll hae 
 company till I come doon." 
 
 I went towards the room indicated. The door 
 which admitted me was exceedingly high and opened, 
 like a gate, outwards. There was a great noise within 
 of barking, screaming, and coughing. Here in a
 
 1 SALUTE THE LADY GRIZEL. 275 
 
 large room were a collie dog, a long-haired cat 
 of some foreign breed, a parrot on a stick, and a 
 monkey, or, as the Galloway folks say, a "puggie" — 
 an ugly beast all set up in a red coat, capering about 
 everywhere and keeping the whole room in a turmoil. 
 As soon as I came in there was silence, and the 
 monkey ran to the top of the red velvet curtains, and 
 there showed his head most comically in order to 
 observe if anyone were following me into the room. 
 The action was that of the bad bov of a school 
 looking for the dominie with his taws or birch rod. 
 At this moment I could not forbear laughing. 
 
 " Have some manners, ye gowk ! " shouted a great 
 voice which startled me, and instinctively I begged 
 pardon. But it was only the parrot, a strange, uncanny 
 bird which I had often heard about but never before 
 seen. So in this room I remained with these curious 
 companions till her ladyship came down to me. 
 
 "This lass o' mine tells me that ye saved her frae 
 the gled's clews at the risk o' yer ain life. Ye'll be 
 thinkin' muckle o' that. Hoot, it's naethin' ava. 
 Yer grandfather had dune as muckle for a kiss 
 and gang-yer-ways frae a bonny lass ; but I guess, 
 indeed I ken, that ye hae bespoke the farm and 
 want to life-rent it. Aweel, ye are a decent lad I 
 doot not, though ye haena muckle siller. We'll see, 
 we'll see, Paitrick. A Maxwell's no to be picked up 
 ilka day as a hen picks corn. Ye may get her, an' yc 
 may no. What's that ye say, that ve hae gotten her 
 already ? Na, my bonny man ; gin there had no been 
 slips atween the cup an' the lip, it's no here I wad hae 
 been the day, writin' my name as Papa Priest gied it 
 to me — we'll no say hoo mony year syne ! "
 
 CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 JEN GEDDES SAMPLER BAG. 
 
 Jen Geddes appeared at the door. She had dressed 
 herself in a black gown of silk, very thick, and her 
 grey hair was over her ears in most elaborate 
 wimples. 
 
 " Did I ever see sic a silly auld woman," said Lady 
 Grizel, "at your time o' life, Jen, to dress up for a 
 young man j I'm black affrontit." 
 
 Jen said, without turning a hair, " Be my age what 
 it may, it's weel kenned that your ladyship was woman 
 muckle when I was christened." 
 
 " Hoot na, Jen, I was but a lassie. I dinna mind 
 on't ava' ! " said her ladyship, firmly. 
 
 " Na, na, Leddy Girzie, ye ken brawly that it's 
 in your hand o' write that the name o' Janet Geddes 
 stands in the big ha' Bible." This with an air of 
 triumph. 
 
 But I went forward, seeing that Jen was a privileged 
 person, and waited for Lady Grizel to introduce me. 
 
 "Ye'll ken Laird Heron o' the Rathan, Jen — a 
 mettle spark. He taks after his gran'faither aboot the 
 leg ; think ye na, Jen ? " 
 
 " That your leddyship should ken. I hae heard my 
 
 .276
 
 JEN GEDDES' SAMPLER BAG. 277 
 
 faither say he cam' a heap aboot ye. As for me, I'm a 
 deal ower young to mind." 
 
 " Hoot na, Jen, ye ken fine that it was you that 
 used to let him in when he cam' tirlin' at the pin, an' 
 that hoised him oot o' the wicket that nicht when his 
 lordship, my faither, cam' on us ower quick." 
 
 Jen kindled at the recollection, and was caught. 
 
 "Aye, my leddy, an' wasna it bonnv to see him 
 ding the sparks frae the iron jackets o' the watchers. 
 Ave, but he was a free lad, and kenned a bonny 
 lass." 
 
 "You an' him were ower pack for me, Jen," said 
 her ladyship, craftily. " I like no a man that comes 
 after baith mistress and maid." 
 
 "Hoot," said Jen, "there's nae hairm dune, for a 
 gallant lad to tak a bit cheeper frae the maid on his 
 way ben to the mistress ; an' what for no ? D'ye 
 think the maid is no as guid a judge o' sic like as the 
 leddy ; forby whiles a deal bonnier ? She canna help 
 bein' whiles mair temptation." 
 
 And Jen tossed her stately ringlets before her well- 
 preserved apple cheeks. 
 
 "'Deed, Jen, noo that ye hae gi'en in that you an' 
 me is aboot an age, I'll never deny that in the days o' 
 yer youth ye war a weel-faured lass." 
 
 Jen held her head high. 
 
 " Aiblins I'm nae that ill-lookin' yet," she said. 
 
 " An opinion in which I heartilv :ugree," said I, 
 taking her hand in mine, while I held my hat in the 
 other. " Let me claim the privilege of my grand- 
 father, who, I perceive, had excellent taste ! " 
 
 Whereupon I bowed to mistress and then to maid, 
 who dropped me a curtsy apiece — that of Lady Grizel
 
 278 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 graceful and sweeping, that of Jen Geddes ample and 
 hearty, as of a tub that rises and falls in a mill-pond. 
 
 " Weel bobbit ! ye're a plant o' grace," said the 
 Lady Grizel, very much pleased, "an' a lad o' mettle 
 takes the heart o' auld wives mair nor looks." 
 
 " But he's weel faured for a' that," said Jen ; " I 
 think he's e'en as bonny as ever his gran'faither was." 
 
 " An' that was aye your way, Jen ; an' a comfort- 
 able one it is. The apple ye bad was aye the best 
 apple, the bonniest, the reedest-cheekit. That's what 
 it is to be happy." 
 
 She sighed. 
 
 " As for me," she went on, " the lad I liked best 
 was aye the lad that I couldna get, an' that's maybe 
 the reason that I lie my lane the nicht, wi' only 
 anither auld limmer like mvsel' atween me an' the 
 
 J 
 
 stock." 
 
 "Ye micht hae had the Laird o' Rathan," said Jen 
 to her mistress, " and then yer Billie.Wattie had never 
 rogueit him oot o' Orraland and Rascarrel an' the bonny 
 Nitwud. But ye war an earl's dochter, an' couldna 
 think to sit in the auld toor o' Rathan and even 
 voursel' to a commoner." 
 
 "'Deed, Jen," said Lady Grizel, tossing her head 
 in a way which reminded me exceedingly of May 
 Maxwell when she is roguish, " it wasna me that was 
 unwillin'. I wad hae gien a' my shapin' claes to sit 
 there ; but it wasna to be." 
 
 She paused for a moment of thought ; then she 
 spoke, waving her hand sideways as though to drive 
 all these things away. 
 
 " But they are a' but auld wives' clavers, an' it's 
 Paitrick Heron that's come to my door wi' a bonny
 
 JEN GEDDES' SAMPLER BAG. 279 
 
 lass in his hand, ridin' croose and canty — him wi' a 
 three-cornered dunt on his broo, an' her wi' a scart on 
 her airm that they hae gotten, ilka yin fechtin' to get 
 the ither. Jen ! we'll e'en hae a waddin'. I'se get 
 doon Mass John, an' Jen, ye can air the sheets." 
 
 "Great havers," said Jen, "ye were aye for suppin' 
 yer porritch afore they were weel boiled a' the days o' 
 ye. They're Whigs and no o' the religion, and mair 
 nor that the young lass's faither is no lang under the 
 sod." 
 
 " Aweel, aweel, Jen," said her ladyship, " it's maybe 
 as weel, but I hae garred this young man's heart gang 
 clinkum-clank this nicht, I wat. Let me hearken ! " 
 
 And the abominable old woman put her hand on 
 my heart, which was in good sooth thumping with 
 great spontaniety and surprising quickness at the 
 thought. 
 
 " A good honest heart," she said, " that hasna been 
 weared on ither lasses. Ye shall no hae lang to wait, 
 my laddie, and I'se butter your bread for ye that day, 
 my man." 
 
 And well said. None such a bad old lady was the 
 Lady Grizel. 
 
 "D'ye mind," said Jen, "hoo ye used to come 
 gatherin' the bramble-berries, an' then the mistress wad 
 cry ye into the hoose for a bit piece ? " 
 
 I minded fine, and said so with such an expression 
 of happiness, that Jen was moved to other recollec- 
 tions, while her mistress went out from us. 
 
 " She's a wonderfu' woman, the mistress ; no the 
 like o' her in the three counties. She micht hae had 
 the wale o' the men — like mvsel' indeed ; but when- 
 ever yin o' them tried ower sair to please her, she
 
 280 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 turned camsteery wi' him, an' gang in harnass she 
 wadna ; and even your gran'faither only pleased her 
 by pretendin' no to care a preen for her." 
 
 " She has been very kind to me already," I said. 
 
 " Aye, an' she'll be kinder, for she likes you, I can 
 see. My name's no Jen Geddes o' the Parton gin 
 she's no kind to you, far by your thinkin'. But be 
 aff-stan'in' an' contradictious, hot as the mustard, an' 
 flee oot wi' your hat in your hand an' your heid in 
 the air at a word. That's the way to please the 
 mistress ; aye, an' the feck o' women. They like 
 nane o' your men that peep and mutter — bena (except) 
 my sister Eppie," she added. 
 
 "Your sister Eppie?" I said, a strange thought 
 coming into my head. 
 
 " Aye, an' that minds me, my laddie, whaur got ye 
 that bag wi' the bluidy knives intil't lying on the table. 
 I wuss ye haena been at some terrible ploy, you an' 
 the Maxwell lass." 
 
 I told her as well as I could our great and wonderful 
 story between her exclamations. Before I had done 
 with the broad back of the carle in the sea-chest, she 
 had to sit down ; the two gashes in it finished her, as 
 they had nearly done for me ; but she wanted to hear 
 more. 
 
 " But the bag ; whaur gat ye the bag ? " she cried. 
 
 Of that I knew nothing. It was one that May 
 Maxwell had brought from the House of Death by 
 Loch Enoch side. 
 
 " That's my sister's bag, I can sweer til't," she said. 
 " She's marriet on saft Sammle Tamson o' the Moss- 
 dale. It was me that made it an' gied it to her afore 
 she left Parton Hoose. See here ! " she cried suddenly.
 
 JEN GEDDES' SAMPLER BAG. 281 
 
 She ripped away a part of the lining. "Janet 
 Geddes ; her sampler work," was cross-stitched 
 on the inside of the lining. 
 
 Then I remembered the story of Marion, and the 
 little lass that we had left with Mistress Eggface and 
 the evil men in the terrible house on the hill of Craig- 
 nairny. 
 
 "The wee bit lass," I said again and again; "an' 
 we left her in that hoose amang the fiends." 
 
 My heart smote me sore, as indeed it had no need 
 to do, for of a surety we had all died by torture had 
 we tried to take her with us then. I told myself this, 
 but it did not do a bit of good. Of all the useless, 
 contrary things in the world, conscience is the worst. 
 The preachers say that it cannot do wrong or speak 
 wrong. This is far from being so ; for many is 
 the time that I have done something I knew to be 
 right — indeed in which I had no choice but to do 
 as I did ; therefore conscience ought to have been 
 satisfied. But was it ? Far from that ; it kept up 
 such a coil and pother that very often, just to ease it, 
 I went and did something infinitely worse to drown 
 its noise, or in some round-the-corner way cause it 
 to be quiet. This I did now. I could in no wise 
 help leaving the little lass ; it was certain that we 
 had only got ourselves all murdered if we had tried 
 to bring her with us ; but conscience would have 
 none of it, and I had a sore heart for many days about 
 her. Often have I wished that I had no conscience 
 whatever, and that not for evil's sake. 
 
 The Lady Grizel now came in. 
 
 " I mind," said she, " when you cam' to Earlstoun a 
 wee bit laddie, that ye liked a bit piece wi' butter and
 
 282 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the sweet conserves upon it. Noo, ye'll hae to tak 
 the road soon, for the sake o' Jen's character an' mine. 
 It will no do for a handsome young man to be his 
 lane in the hoose wi' three bonny lasses. Ye war in 
 the Wolf's Slock at dead o' nicht wi' the bonniest, 
 says you ; my certes, but ye are no blate to say that 
 to my face. Ye'se no come into my hoose gin ye 
 dinna learn to be ceevil. But it was the bit o' sweet- 
 cake wi' conserves that ye likit. See noo, boy, there's 
 a bit o' the like set oot for ye ben in the room there. 
 Gang ben and get it." 
 
 So saying, she took me by the shoulders and fairly 
 pushed me out. I entered in at the door, and there 
 before me, standing alone by the window, was my 
 May. I shut the door behind me and looked about 
 for Lady Grizel's sweet cake and conserves.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIV. 
 
 SWEET CAKE AND CONSERVES. 
 
 " May ! " I said softly. 
 
 She turned and came near to me and stood very 
 close against me in a way that was sweet to me, but 
 I knew that she did not wish me to touch her then, 
 but only to stand so. Thus we remained a considerable 
 while, till my heart became very full, aching within 
 me to comfort her. Which at last I did with satis- 
 faction to both of us, and the time sped. 
 
 I told her how that I must go to the old Tower of 
 Rathan, and see what matters were like there in the 
 hands of Jerry. I told her, too, about little Marion, 
 who she was ; and she cheered me by telling me that 
 the wild and murderous folk were not all unkind to 
 the little child, but that she was treated in that rough 
 and poor place like the daughter of the old woman 
 — as indeed I had seen even while I remained in the 
 kitchen. Also she was not old enough to know their 
 enormities. All which, being the words of my love, 
 eased my heart amazingly, because I did not wish to 
 have a second journey thrust upon me just at that 
 time. 
 
 So then we looked about for a place to sit down, 
 
 283
 
 284 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 for it behoved us to talk together as it were for the 
 last time (for at least a night and a day). There was 
 but one great chair in all that room, though there was 
 much tapestry and some high tables and corner 
 aumries. So we sat down on it with great content, 
 and in good sooth I wist not how I should be able to 
 go from her — so soon does one use to the sight and 
 touch of a dear young lass. 
 
 But I knew well that she would be true to me, and 
 she promised to think on me every hour ; and asked 
 the same from me again, which made me laugh, for I 
 knew that I should think of nought else the hour by 
 the length and every hour. So I asked her when she 
 would come to the Rathan and stay. 
 
 " It is a poor place," I said, " but there is no reason 
 why, with service and good farming, it should not be 
 the bieldiest and happiest of homes for us. We 
 Herons have lived sparely for two generations, and we 
 can afford to spend a little out of the Dumfries 
 lawyer's hands when a bonnv bride comes home to 
 Rathan." 
 
 I urged her sore, and at last she admitted she would 
 come just when I was ready, for she said, " I have no 
 heart to go back to Craigdarroch, for I ken my 
 brithers, and they are not the men to let byganes lie. 
 There'll be mair and waur red wark or a' be dune ! " 
 
 " Had she indeed the heart to come to the 
 Rathan ? " I asked, to try her ; for indeed I knew it 
 before, yet it was so passing sweet to hear that I 
 could not forego a word. 
 
 " Deed that I have, Patrick, heart an' body an' a' — 
 juist your ain, when it fits you to call for them." 
 
 « Then," said I, « I'll e'en tak' them noo," 

 
 SWEET CAKE AND CONSERVES. 285 
 
 At which she cried off, but she was none ill-pleased. 
 
 " Hae ye a' the conserves lickit aff the sweetcake 
 yet ? " cried a voice from the door, which opened just 
 a little ajar. 
 
 We were surprised and answered nothing, and the 
 door closed again as softly as it had opened. 
 
 May laughed May Mischiefs laugh for, I think, 
 the first time since the beginning of the troubles. 
 
 " Have you ? " said she, looking at me. 
 
 Now we sat in one chair, and though I do not con- 
 sider myself a clever fellow, and I had no experience, 
 that was good enough for me. 
 
 There is nothing to report of the next half hour. 
 
 " It's my turn, May," said Lady Grizel, who had 
 been coughing at the door for five minutes ; " I'm 
 whiles ta'en wi' the hoast, but I like a bit quiet hour 
 at e'en wi a blythe lad as weel as ony." 
 
 " His grandfather, was it no ? " asked my witch 
 archly. 
 
 " 'Deed but ye're nocht but a couple o' birkies that 
 needs turnin' up and skelpin' — and for a word I wad 
 send ye baith to the door. Hear ye that ? " said the 
 old lady, greatly pleased. 
 
 Then she turned to me. 
 
 " Noo awa' wi' ye, Patrick, an' tell thac Maxwell 
 lads that they are welcome to the onstead o' Earlstoun 
 farm to stow their goods and bestial in when they get 
 ony. An' say that there's guid sleepin' in the granary 
 an' stable laft. But there's to be nae fechtin' near the 
 hoose," she added, having, no doubt, in mind the 
 manners and customs of the Maxwell brothers. 
 
 " An' anithcr thing — they maun find their ain 
 caves and hidie-holes for the Hollands an' the lace.
 
 286 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I'm no gaun to hae the king's men rampagin' 
 through my hoose, herrying and berryin', at my time 
 o' life. A keg ower the back o' the dyke is yae thing 
 an' cellars full o' brandy is anither." 
 
 So I bade them good-bye, kissing them both, and 
 Jen Geddes too at the door, who boxed me on the ear 
 for an "impudent loon, that canna leave a decent 
 woman's kep straucht on her heid." 
 
 And this was all the magic I ever used to win three 
 women's hearts. 
 
 The Maxwells had heard the whole story of their 
 sister's safety already from Silver Sand, and that much 
 to my credit. So they came about me like bees from 
 where they were working, putting new roofs on their 
 barns and byres. They would have me stay and take 
 the good cheer of the occasion with them, but I was 
 eager to be at the Rathan ; so I took their boat and 
 rowed over across the rippling tide that came flowing 
 in as I knew it of old, swirling in the smooth places 
 with an oily underbubble and jabbling along the side 
 of the boat, with the pleasant sound which is always 
 heartsome to me to hear. 
 
 I beached the Maxwells' boat at the Shell Cove, at 
 the back of the house, and went up the path, looking 
 as a man looks that has come back from foreign parts 
 and tries to make out the changes about his home. 
 Rathan House looked better than ever I saw it. 
 There was a platform out of one of the windows, 
 which I could by no means tell the use of, and a dark 
 vessel sitting upon it. It was a very silent place, but 
 I heard the hens cackling and pecking at meat newly 
 laid out, so I knew that there was a living soul about 
 it somewhere.
 
 SWEET CAKE AND CONSERVES. 287. 
 
 I went quietly about the house till I came to the 
 main door, which was deep set in the wall. It was 
 wide open, and there sat Jerry Macwhirter, peeling 
 potatoes and piping as he worked, " Awa', Whigs 
 awa'," and other unhallowed tunes. 
 
 "The Whig is no sae far awa', my lad ! — and how 
 do ye like it ? " said I. 
 
 Wherewith I took him by the back of the neck to 
 shake him, but he twisted himself round, and would 
 have set a dirk in me with exceeding quickness had 
 not he recognised me and dropped it with a hearty 
 cry of joy. 
 
 But I still shook him, whereat he kicked my shins. 
 
 This brought us back to the point of friendliness, 
 for I had paid him his kane for his insolence at 
 parting. Then I had to tell him all the long story, 
 which made him marvel greatly. There had been, it 
 seemed, a great quietness about Rathan and all the 
 countryside. It was said, however, that the sheriff 
 was organising a party to go against the outlaws, but 
 no one believed it. 
 
 On the other hand, the Maxwells were surely 
 setting themselves to prepare for a great raid among 
 the hills. Many had given in their names to Will 
 and Kennedy Maxwell, and it was said that a large 
 body of men exercised every night during the clear 
 of the moon on the farm of Craigdarroch. This 
 much was true at all events, that a party of preven- 
 tive men from Kirkcudbright had come on a body of 
 fifty horse by the holms of the Darroch, and fled 
 without firing a shot. But these might only be the 
 ordinary Freetraders. The Maxwells had sworn 
 never to run another cargo till the evil beasts were
 
 288 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 destroyed, root and branch, from off the face of 
 Galloway. 
 
 I wondered what the evil beasts had to say to this. 
 
 Within doors everything was in such beautiful 
 order that I hardly knew it for the same place. Jerry 
 (to pass the time he said) had so painted and cleaned, 
 that in my heart I thought that the bride might have 
 come home that night — and indeed I wished she had. 
 
 When I told him concerning May he looked sulkier 
 than ever I saw him. The further my story went on, 
 the gloomier got he. At last he broke out — 
 
 " Then I suppose naething will serve you but you 
 must get this lass ower to the Rathan, set up hoose 
 like a grocer, and tak' the Buik nicht an' mornin' ? " 
 
 I said that these things were far away. 
 
 " But they are comin', I see, an' no sae far away 
 neither — nearder than I like." 
 
 " It'll never make any difference to you, Jerry," I 
 said with the innocence of inexperience. 
 
 " Whustle on my thoomb ! " said he irreverently ; 
 "I'm bye wi't ; I ken my jug's been ower often at 
 the well. I'll e'en tak' to a tent, like Silver Sand. 
 Him an' me'll gang the kintry. That's what we'll 
 do. I can at least pent a door. I tell ye what. 
 Jerry'll no mix yer saps an' nurse yer scraichin' brats. 
 I canna bide them." 
 
 Whereupon he took me round about, and in a 
 mournful, valedictory manner (which amused me 
 much) he showed me all his improvements. He had 
 really wonderfully brightened up the old house. But 
 of course his doings, such as they were, showed me 
 how much must be done before a young bride could 
 come home. I resolved, thereupon, to go to Dumfries
 
 SWEET CAKE AND CONSERVES. 289 
 
 the very next day to see the lawyer that had my little 
 property in his hand ; but all this time I burned hot 
 and cold in flashes and my head buzzed strangely. 
 
 " 'Deed ye'll no do that," he said, " I hae a bit sma' 
 job to do myseP, an' gin I kept house for you, ye 
 maun e'en bide for me." 
 
 I nodded, asking only when he would be back 
 again. 
 
 I told him about the matter of the bag and the 
 little Marion. 
 
 " I'll call at the Mossdale on my road to New 
 Galloway, and tell them. It's a thing they should 
 ken, and it'll maybe be better for your health to keep 
 wide o' the Macaterick's country for a wee. I'm but 
 a hirple Dick, an' it maitters little aboot me. There's 
 nocht but the eel's skin on Jerry MacWhirter." 
 
 So he sped on his way, with a message that all was 
 right, to Earlstoun, where I asked May to let him 
 have the bag in which the knives had been. 
 
 To ease my head I strolled down to where Silver 
 Sand had made his camp by the side of the little 
 Rathan burn. His donkey was there, having been 
 brought to the isle from the other side. Silver 
 Sand looked a little queerly at me as I came up, 
 thinking mayhap that I had asked the Lady Grizel 
 more of his history, which I was far from doing, so 
 long as he did not wish to tell me himself. All about 
 the camp was very fresh and pleasant, and made me 
 very glad, but for the queer humming machinery 
 which was working in my head. 
 
 But Silver Sand, as soon as he saw me (for I had 
 wholly forgotten my battered head, being with May 
 and then coming home), ordered me in a loud tone 
 
 19
 
 290 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 to my bed, calling himself ill-names for not having 
 thought thereon sooner. 
 
 So he sent me to bed and himself helped me off 
 with my clothes, and took them away. Then he laid 
 cool, wet cloths on my head, and gave me a draught. 
 Whereat I slept a great sleep of many hours, and when 
 I awakened I could not tell what day or hour of the 
 day it might be. But I was unhappy in my mind, 
 because I had not sent a message to Earlstoun, 
 whereat he went out himself and left me. Outside 
 the salt water sounded cool and pleasant as though it 
 were breaking in spray on my hot head. So I lay, with 
 many earnest thoughts of the goodness of God, as it 
 were between sleeping and waking. Indeed I re- 
 proached myself very sore that I had so seldom 
 thought upon the Maker and the Giver of all good. 
 My nature is not to be unthankful, but only of late 
 things had happened so close the one on the other, 
 that I had forgotten and passed my thanksgivings by. 
 For this now, it may be, I was lying upon my back.
 
 CHAPTER XXXV. 
 
 SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC. 
 
 It was the broad light of some unknown day when I 
 came again to myself, for Silver Sand, by his white 
 magic, had put that in the draught which caused me to 
 sleep. But I was marvellously refreshed and my head 
 was cool. 
 
 " Give me my sark ! " I cried, for I could hear him 
 at the hag-clog where we cut the branches and wood 
 into billets to go into the great fireplace. 
 
 "Eppie will bring it from the store-room," said the 
 voice, not of Silver Sand as I had apprehended, but of 
 that sprite Jerry, who sat at the bed-foot and smirked 
 at my surprise. 
 
 " Whatna Eppie ? " said I. 
 
 "Hear till him," said Jerry, scratching his bare foot, 
 " the hound ! Hoo mony Eppies do ye ken ? Are 
 the Eppies tumblin' ower yin anither i' this hoose o' 
 the Isle o' Rathan ? " 
 
 But I let the ill-guided loon run on, for there in 
 
 the doorway stood my kind friend Eppie Tamson of 
 
 Mossdale, with her comely person and apple cheeks, 
 
 and she was drying her hands. 
 
 291
 
 292 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Wi' laddie," she said, " this is blithe seem' — you 
 clothed and in your richt mind. Ye hae had a teuch 
 battle for't on the grey tide where the seeven waters 
 meet, but ye hae won through." 
 
 "I want a dish o' porridge," I said, for I was 
 hungry. 
 
 She went to the door and cried, "Jen, he's wakkin' ; 
 fess the porridge ! " 
 
 And with that who should put her head in at the 
 door but my own dear May Mischief, who came 
 quietly and sat at the head of my bed and put her 
 head down beside mine on the pillow — which, though 
 a slight thing, went to my heart mightily, so that I 
 thought on it long after she was gone. 
 
 Then she told me how that I had been near to ten 
 days unconscious, and had raved on about many things, 
 concerning some of which she said, " I would not have 
 desired any but myself to hear." But she smiled as 
 she said it. 
 
 " And I heard more o' your ill-deeds than I am 
 likely to hear about for the rest o' my life," she 
 said. 
 
 Seeing me look a little anxious, she said, " There 
 was nothing to cause me any anxiety, Patrick ; for, 
 though I heard everything, you never spoke of any 
 lass but one." 
 
 She smiled and waited for me to speak. So, to 
 please her, I asked who that might be. 
 
 " It was just daft May Maxwell," she said, looking 
 down at her lap, and then up at me all very simply 
 and sweetly, as indeed was all she did. 
 
 " Hoot," said I, " was that a' ? I thocht it had 
 been eyther Jen Geddes or Eppie Tamson."
 
 SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC. 293 
 
 "You're gettin' better," says she, "an' we maun 
 talc' a stap oot o' yer bicker, my lad ! " 
 
 And in my weak state this seemed to me such a 
 rare witty conceit that I laughed till May, frowning 
 and looking anxious, bade me stop. Then I said that 
 I would get up ; but she put her hand on mine and 
 said, "Look, laddie, there'll need to be some days 
 afore that." 
 
 And indeed she was right, for my arm was wasted 
 to the flat bone. 
 
 "My boy," she said, and I loved to hear her so 
 speak, " thou looks but ill fit to climb the Wolf's 
 Slock this nicht." 
 
 Then I asked her of the Lady Grizel and how she 
 did, and she told me that she sent over every day to 
 see how the lad was, and to know when they were 
 coming back, for that the time was long at the 
 Earlstoun without both Jen and May, and with only 
 a common puggy and a common parrot to keep her 
 company. The Lady Grizel was an impolite old 
 woman, I thought. 
 
 Also she told me that Mossdale, being on the verge 
 of the outlaw country, was no longer safe ; for it was 
 known to the Macatericks that Sammle Tamson had 
 been with me on the links of the Cooran that day, 
 and the gypsies had vowed vengeance against him. 
 So getting the loan of two carts from Clachanpluck, 
 Sammle and Eppie had brought all their belongings 
 to the Earlstoun. Sammle was now with the Max- 
 wells, her brothers, busy making plans for vengeance 
 on the catherans of the hills. 
 
 " And Eppie cam' here to nurse you," she said, 
 " but I have done most of it myself, since they let me
 
 294 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 come," she said, with some little pride that was pretty 
 to see. 
 
 All this was news to me, and it took me some time 
 to understand that so much should come to pass in so 
 short a time. 
 
 The next day May and Jen went back to Earls- 
 toun, with the promise that Sammle Tamson should 
 bring her (meaning May) over to see me one day in 
 each week till I should be able to go to Earlstoun 
 myself. 
 
 Then came Sammle himself to transport the chattels 
 of May and Jen, and with him Kennedy Maxwell, 
 who had a less serious face than the others. 
 
 Then I arranged with Sammle Tamson what had been 
 in my mind, that he should come to the Rathan with all 
 his goods, and that the lodge that was by the stable 
 should be his whenever it liked him to go into it ; 
 but in the meantime (at least, till the bride that was 
 coming should arrive) Eppie and he were to remain in 
 the house of Rathan itself and look after both me 
 and it. And it pleased me much to have a man of 
 my own. 
 
 " To think that you and our May have made it 
 up ! " said Kennedy ; " that beats a'." 
 
 I told him tartly that it beat him at any rate, with 
 his night-hawk traikings and trokings with a dozen 
 hizzies — whereat, rather pleased than rebuked, he did 
 but laugh. 
 
 And so it was settled. I was to give Samuel all 
 that he required of bread and meat and ale, four rigs 
 of potatoes, half an acre of barley and an acre of oats, 
 also twelve pounds sterling in the year for the ser- 
 vices of himself and of his wife. All which I think very
 
 SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC. 295 
 
 liberal, considering that many a hind is glad to hire 
 himself for two pound and his meat. But I love that 
 in a home which Mary and I looked forward to with so 
 much content, the others who dwell there shall also 
 be content. Besides, with my father's savings I could 
 well afford it. 
 
 Kennedy Maxwell told me that the hill folk, mean- 
 ing the outlaw gypsies, were all agog to revenge the 
 retaking of May and the discovery of their villainy. 
 He told me also that near to a hundred of stout and 
 brave lads had sworn to go in the back end of the 
 year, and root them out of their fastnesses with a great 
 destruction. These men came from all the parishes, 
 from Minnigaff to Rerrick, and from Carsphairn to 
 the edge of Kells. Samuel Tamson had been up 
 raising the men of the head end of the Stewartry, and 
 there were many, even to the Doon Water and the 
 Shalloch-on-Minnoch, sturdy men of Carrick, who 
 would gladly join, having been sore harried by the 
 outlaws in time past. 
 
 So the days went by and the weeks brought the 
 harvest, and the reaping of the scanty fields that I had 
 taken so small an interest in. Yet the Maxwells came 
 with others of their company and did it for me ; and 
 I wished to divide fair with them, because I needed 
 not so great a store of corn, while they, who were re- 
 stocking their farm, sorely required it. For I had no 
 beasts to speak of save only sheep ; and all the corn 
 I had had been wrought by horse that had been 
 hired from the farmers about, which gave me the less 
 trouble, though also of necessity the less profit. But 
 indeed I cared not much, save that I might grow what 
 was needed for the house of Rathan, having money to
 
 296 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 get what I wanted in funds and property in the hands 
 of Mr. Erskine, that well-kenned and most honest 
 lawyer in Dumfries. 
 
 But all the same I purposed to keep horse in future 
 years, and drain and plough, which should be both for 
 the improvement of Rathan and for its greater useful- 
 ness. Also there came into my head a plan whereby 
 the sea being shut out of the narrow gulf where it 
 ran, there might be gained to my estate a great extent 
 of fertile land. All which I have since done, and I 
 mention these things to show that the days of enforced 
 idleness were very fruitful in thoughts for the future. 
 
 Also, as I said, I had heart-searchings about my own 
 state of soul, concerning which I perceived that I 
 had thought too little. I intended to go and open 
 my mind to Mr. Macmillan of Balmaghie, who was a 
 leading man among the Societies and a man of great 
 holiness and fearlessness. This also in time I did, 
 becoming a member in good standing, but not till 
 all this brulzie was ended and peace had once more 
 come where now there was only danger and the tuck 
 of drum. 
 
 Then, when I could sit up, Silver Sand came and 
 told me tales, teaching me all the lore of the woods, 
 and strange old sayings among the gypsies that made 
 me wonder where he had learned them ; but that 
 he seemed to be well learned in everything. He 
 had set up his tent again, and, though I paid him 
 all his tale of guineas, he went back to his trade of 
 selling the scythe sand, all made out of the hardest 
 white grit of the granite where it is ground down and 
 sifted by the rain and the wearing of the rocks on the 
 edges of the lochs in the granite districts.
 
 SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC. 297 
 
 Three kinds of sand he brought me to see, but not 
 being a scytheman I could not tell the difference. 
 Then, very willingly, Silver Sand instructed me. 
 
 " This," he said, running his hand through the fine, 
 white, sandlike meal that he had in one bag, "is the 
 sand which I gather from the edge of the little Loch of 
 Skerrow near to Mossdale that Sammle Tamson kens 
 so weel. This is the commonest kind, yet good for 
 coarse work, such as mowing ordinary grass, or the 
 weeds and girse about a field's edges. This sort also 
 is the cheapest ; but this," he said, showing me another 
 very fine sand, "is the sand from Loch Valley, which, 
 when last we passed, I had not time to show you." 
 (It was not indeed likely.) "It is fine, and sticks 
 smoothly on the strake, and is used for corn on the 
 braes, and for short hay that is easy won. 
 
 " But this," he said, taking up a smaller bag as if it 
 had been the fine gold, " is the sand from Loch Enoch 
 itself. It is the best, the keenest, and lies closest to 
 the blade of the scythe. It is used for the mowing of 
 meadow hay, which is hard to win, because it has to 
 be cut about the Lammas time, when the floods come. 
 Then it is sore work to mow for a long summer's 
 day, and the great swing of the scythe is indeed needed. 
 At that time of year you can hear the ' strake, strake ' 
 of the mower in the shade as he puts an edge on his 
 tool, and nothing else is used for this purpose through all 
 Galloway, Carrick, and the Upper Ward of Lanerick- 
 shire than the Loch Enoch sand — that is, when they 
 can get it." 
 
 He passed it over to me in a canvas bag. It was 
 certainly very beautiful, and I let it trickle through 
 my fingers.
 
 298 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " But how did you get this, Silver Sand ? " I said ; 
 " have you been back again since " 
 
 " No," he said ; " but I have them that can gang 
 for me." 
 
 The sand ran through my fingers, clean and dry, till 
 they encountered something like a coin. I brought it 
 out on my palm. It looked very like a token that the 
 ministers give to those who are judged fit to come to 
 the Communion table. But there was no text on it ; 
 only some markings which it was beyond me to make 
 anything of. Yet Silver Sand snatched it from me 
 with great instancy, and I fancied that I saw him 
 change colour as he did so. 
 
 " God 'forgive me ! How could I have missed it ? " 
 he said. Then, having looked at it, he muttered, "So 
 soon ! " and was silent. 
 
 Now but that Silver Sand had approven himself 
 well, and that I knew him for trusty to the heart's 
 core, I had certainly suspected him of double dealing. 
 Yet he was to me utterly beyond reproach and 
 above suspicion. It was simply not possible that he 
 could be playing "booty," with a foot in either camp. 
 But most certainly he was a man with more secrets 
 of his own, and dangerous ones to boot, than I had 
 cared to carry about without a steel jacket over. 
 
 Soon after this he walked away over in the direction 
 of Earlstoun, taking the boat with him to that White 
 Horse Bay which lay nearest to the house in which 
 May dwelt. 
 
 When I was well enough to sit again at the high 
 window of my room, for all the windows in Rathan 
 were high, the prospect glass was a great comfort to 
 me. I could see the camp of Silver Sand, with grey
 
 SILVER SAND'S WHITE MAGIC. 299 
 
 Ouharrie on guard by the stream, and the flash of the 
 white-peeled sauch wand against the black opening of 
 the tent. That was part of Silver Sand's magic. 
 Indeed I often told him that he would be burned for a 
 wizard yet, and that (as they did to Major Weir) 
 they would cast in Ouharrie and the peeled wand to 
 keep him company. 
 
 " Then there's some o' them wad get sair bitten, 
 whatever ! " was all his answer. 
 
 Yet true it is that when he wanted water to feed 
 the cattle on several parts of Rathan in after-days, 
 it was with this very peeled wand that Silver Sand 
 found the spring, but whether by foreknowledge or 
 some science that was hid from the rest of us, I 
 make not bold to say, for indeed I know not. 
 
 Then beyond, over the tide which I watched come 
 and go twice a day, I could see the onstead of Craig- 
 darroch, with the Maxwells busy at their thatching 
 or working in the fields with their guns standing 
 cocked at the end of the rig, which was a strange 
 thing to see in Scotland at that time of the dav. 
 
 But what caused me to look oftenest, and that till 
 my eye ached and I had to take it from the eye-piece, 
 was the topmost turret of Earlstoun, and a little bit of 
 the terrace of the Italian garden at the corner beneath, 
 where there was a smooth piece of turf on which 
 May Maxwell often walked and (having so arranged 
 with me) waved a white handkerchief to me for 
 comfort.
 
 CHAPTER XXXVI. 
 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 
 
 So it was no long season before I waxed as strong as 
 ever, and could take my way over to Earlstoun to see 
 my lass. Eppie and Samuel remained in the house, 
 and Samuel occupied much of his time in going 
 over to Craigdarroch to hear the latest plans for the 
 great raid that the Maxwells were to make as soon 
 as the winter frosts came to bind the upland waters ; 
 for it was no use to go thither when the bogs and 
 lochs were unfrozen. Boats could not be dragged up to 
 the summits of these wild mountains, and even if the 
 Lowlanders came in force and defeated the outlaws, 
 they would all escape among the haggs, because of their 
 knowledge of the ground. 
 
 Now this had been a wild year in Galloway, for His 
 Majesty King George, having so recently come to the 
 throne, many of the evilly disposed seized the occasion 
 to plunder their neighbours. Agnew of Lochnaw took 
 out letters from the Privy Council, and, as the warrant 
 runs, "bought commission of justiciary to pursue and 
 slay the red-handed clans of gypsies and broken men, 
 
 living in the fastnesses of Carrick and Galloway, who do 
 
 300
 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 301 
 
 continually plunder, slay, and put in fear His Majesty's 
 lieges." These clans were the Millers, Baillies, Macate- 
 ricks, and Marshalls — the Faas not being nominated 
 in the warrandice. 
 
 But of this there was no outcome. Agnew stayed 
 in Lochnaw, along with his warrant of justiciary, 
 and the plundering of the Lowland parishes and the 
 terrorism of the upper districts went on as before. 
 
 Said William Maxwell of Craigdarroch, when he 
 heard of it, " Lochnaw may scart his fit, his act is but 
 a flaf o' wind. Them that's ower far awa' to bear 
 the brunt, are ower far awa' to bring the remead." 
 
 By that he meant that Agnew, the King's Sheriff, 
 was too distant to be attacked, and therefore did not 
 feel the need of action. But the Maxwells were not 
 the men to let their burnt rooftree, their lifted cattle, 
 and the splashed red on the white hairs of their father 
 lie unavenged. Yet their scouts, sprinkled here and 
 there on the edges of the wild lands, brought news 
 of the extraordinary activity and boldness of the out- 
 laws — these "wolves and limmers," as in the acts of 
 Council they were denominated. 
 
 In these secret councils of the Maxwells my serving- 
 man, Samuel Tamson, was of course deep, having in 
 the business a greater living stake than most. Yet it 
 was through Silver Sand, who took no part in this 
 battle of preparations, that Eppie heard that so far all 
 was well with Marion. The silence of Silver Sand in 
 all this din of war was remarkable. He abode generally 
 very quietly on the lands of Rathan, making only 
 short journeys to sell his sand through the other 
 parishes that lay on the south of the disturbed country. 
 Notwithstanding, it was ever by his means that we
 
 502 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 heard of the acts of stouthrief and spulzie (raiding and 
 fighting) with which the "wolves of the hills" were 
 charged. 
 
 But soon after my recovery a notable day arrived. 
 I mind it like yesterday, nor is it likely that I shall 
 ever forget it. 
 
 It was the plashing wet evening of a September day, 
 towards six of the clock, when Silver Sand rode up to 
 the House of Rathan. He came in and shook the 
 raindrops from his coat, standing and warming him- 
 self silently with his back to the fire in the hall, for 
 the evening was cold and a fire grateful. The time 
 of the summer fruits was past, and the day of storms 
 was approaching. It had been to me a year of years, 
 in spite of all the pain and the difficulty, for it had 
 brought me a great and continual joy ; and, more than 
 all, the hope of May coming to the House of Rathan 
 before the new year, was like sunshine in the gathering 
 night. 
 
 Silver Sand stood and looked at me awhile without 
 speaking. 
 
 At last he said, " Ye had better hie yerseF awa' ower 
 bye to the House of Earlstoun. It's like ye'll be 
 needed there afore the mornin.' 
 
 Then I asked him why. But he gave me no 
 answer, saying that he and Eppie were quite suffi- 
 cient to keep the House of Rathan against all comers. 
 
 " But," he added, " there will be no comers here, 
 so tak' your musket and pistolets an' gang your 
 ways. Them that bearded the lion can fecht wi' 
 Grimalkin." 
 
 But this last I could not understand. So in some 
 fear I took my arms and the boat, and went over in
 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 303 
 
 the direction of Craigdarroch. There were no cattle 
 about it, nor any sign of habitation ; but some one 
 whistled to me as I went by in such a way that 
 I knew David Maxwell to be on watch there. So I 
 kept on, hearing nothing but this single whistle 
 coming out of the scattered buildings of the onstead, 
 the new thatch of which shone yellow through the 
 gloaming. 
 
 The House of Earlstoun had erstwhile been a baron's 
 castle with a high wall around it and a centre keep ; 
 but within the outer wall there were many buildings 
 of stone and lime, roofed with red tiles, which had 
 been built in more settled times, so that now there was 
 only one great open space in the courtyard, in front 
 of the gate. That gate used in ancient days to be 
 shut nightly, but had not been so for many years ; and 
 now it stood open, a mass of useless iron, which the 
 Lady Grizel had often threatened to sell for old metal 
 if the smith would give her sixpence for it to make 
 plough coulters out of. 
 
 Lady Grizel had the name of being very rich, yet, 
 though she lived very plainly, and went about the 
 house like one of her own servants, listening to all the 
 clash of the country from Jen and the ccachman- 
 butler, she never got the name of a miser. On the 
 contrary, rather the credit of being "juist as free an' 
 hamely as ony plain body." But her father's gold plate 
 (which he had got from Charles the Second for his 
 services to the cause of ridding the country of Whigs) 
 was a favourite theme of conversation over all Gallowav, 
 and the House of Earlstoun, having never been broken, 
 was ever counted one of the richest in the country- 
 side.
 
 304 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 To me it was the richer because that my lass was 
 there. As I went towards the dark and silent house I 
 looked up at the windows for her but saw no one. 
 There was not a gleam of light about the whole 
 great hulk of the tower. This made me more 
 nervous (anxious), lest I had come too late. So I 
 knocked, with some inward quaking, at the door, and 
 one from within asked me who I was, and what 
 I did. When I told there was a noise of voices con- 
 sulting, and I got my pistols ready in my hands, while 
 my gun swung at my back. For, indeed, I knew not 
 what might have happened. 
 
 But I heard the voice of my beloved bidding them 
 open the door, for that it was indeed I, and she could 
 not be mistaken. 
 
 So presently, with many creakings and noises of 
 chains and bolts, very rusty, the door swung a little 
 way, and my sweet love's hand came without to draw 
 me quickly in. Then the door went to with a clang, 
 and the bolts were made fast and a great barracado 
 set up again at the back of it. 
 
 I was a little bewildered coming out of the windless 
 silence of the night into the bustle of so many men, 
 for I soon saw that the House of Earlstoun was held 
 by no fewer than thirty stout fellows, every one of 
 whom owned William Maxwell for his captain. Yet 
 I could not perceive the cause nor the need of such 
 warlike preparations. 
 
 But May took me through many passages till we 
 came to the keep ; then up a narrow winding stair, 
 which was so dark that it made it difficult for us to 
 ascend (where only a moment we lagged as lovers 
 use), and so up into a well-lighted room wherein there
 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 305 
 
 was a fire, but of which the windows were all barred 
 and bolted and the curtains closely drawn. 
 
 Here was the Lady Grizel, sitting with her feet in 
 a great pair of slippers, and toasting them before the 
 fire. Jen Geddes was also here, and May went and 
 sat down by the ingle cheek with a stocking she was 
 knitting. 
 
 " Ye are welcome, Patrick. This is an unco-like 
 ploy. Heard ye ever the like o' it ? " said Lady Grizel, 
 after I had saluted her. 
 
 I answered that I had heard nothing of the purpose 
 of our coming together, save that Silver Sand had sent 
 me, telling me that I should be of use. 
 
 " Silver Sand ? " said she. " What's Johnny — ah — 
 hum — ah — hum " 
 
 Here she suddenly stopped, and remained a long 
 while in a muse. 
 
 " I suppose it's the pairings o' gentrice that's 
 aboot the craitur that gars him to do it, but it's a 
 strange-like thing to stand again yin's ain flesh and 
 blood." 
 
 Concerning which Delphic utterance I knew better 
 than to attempt any question. 
 
 " Who are here ? " I said. " And what can I do, 
 Lady Grizel ? " 
 
 " There's a' the Maxwell clan here, besides Taits o' 
 the Torr, Maclellans o' Colin, Lennoxes o' Millhoose, 
 Cairnses frae Hardhills, lads frae Balmaghie, Sproats, 
 and Charterses — siccan a crew to eat — but a' men o' 
 mettle, wi' some judgment in guiding a Queen Anne 
 musket half fu' o' slugs." 
 
 " And what is all the gathering for ? " I asked. 
 
 "Jen ! " said Lady Grizel. 
 
 20
 
 3°6 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Aye, mem," says Jen, who was making a shift for 
 herself and had a pin in her mouth. 
 
 " What for are ye speakin' sae mim ? Tell Paitrick 
 aboot your lad that cam' to see you this afternoon." 
 
 "Bide a wee," says Janet. 
 
 Then she carefully stuck pins all over her seam, 
 looking critically at it as she did so, and all of us 
 waited on her time. 
 
 " Ye see," she said at last, " I had my wark dune, 
 and had my kitchen sooped up. Then I was e'en 
 makkin' mysel' tidy " 
 
 " Makkin' yoursel' spruce for the lads, Jen," said 
 her ladyship, swaying in her chair and laughing till 
 the floor shook. She ever laughed at but little. 
 
 " An' what for no ? " said Jen. 
 
 " He may come yet, Jen," said her mistress ; " ye 
 haena waited lang yet — only forty year to my know- 
 ledge ! " 
 
 " Hoot, I haena lost hope yet, ony mair nor yer 
 leddyship," said Jen, very much unabashed. 
 
 " Weel, as I was sayin,' I had juist pitten on my 
 kep an' was tyin' the strings whan up cam' a loon 
 to the kitchen door. He had a tarry look aboot him 
 that made me ken him for a sailor. 
 
 " c Guid-day to ye, mistress ! D'ye want ony sea 
 coal ? ' says he. 
 
 " Noo 'sea coal' has but yae meanin' in Gallowa', an' 
 it's the coal that warms ye in the inside. So I gaed 
 up the stair to see the mistress, for I kenned na but 
 what she micht want a kennin', pitten ower the dyke 
 as the Freetraders gaed by afore the mornie-mornin'. 
 
 "Whan I cam' doon again, I took the ither stair 
 that enters by the aumrie.
 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 307 
 
 "My bauchles made nae noise. I juist lookit ben, 
 an' what was my braw lad at but tryin' a' the bars o' 
 the wundows and keekin' in at the spences. He had 
 a fitrule in his hand as weel, but what he was 
 measurin' is mair than I can tell. 
 
 " So I gaed back a kennin', an' gied a bit hoast i' my 
 throat and syne cam ben. 
 
 " My man was sittin' on a chair by the kitchen 
 table as mim as pussy bawdrons when she has half 
 a pund o' fresh butter in her wame. 
 
 " ' Ye hae a gran' view,' he says, lookin' oot o' the 
 window, as though he hadna stirred. 
 
 " ' It's a fine nicht for sowens,' says I. ' Your back 
 gaun doon the loaning wad be a far finer view. 
 Tramp, my lad, I want nae spies and keek-roon- 
 corners in my hoose ! " 
 
 "Sae he gaed his ways. But afore he gaed he gied 
 me a black look an' a black word. 
 
 " ' I'll be seein' you again,' says he. 
 
 " < Verra like,' says I. < I gang to a' the hangings. 
 Ye're a braw lad, but ye'll dance the dance withoot 
 steps some mornin' yet — and a bonny tassel at the tail 
 o' a tow ye'll mak' ! ' 
 
 " Then he tell'd me whaur to gang for a witch. 
 
 '" Na,' says I, * there I'll no gang, gin it were only 
 to keep oot o' your gait.' 
 
 " Then in cam' Silver Sand wi' a tale o' raid, 
 murder, an' stouthrief, an' in a wee the Maxwells 
 cam' here wi' a' their band, an' I had my leddy's 
 orders to let them in. That's a' I ken, save and 
 except that we are just three puir women that's to 
 be murdered." 
 
 There was silence after Jen's tale, and May set
 
 308 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 me something to eat and drink, the which I swiftly 
 despatched, and went out — for it was not meet that on 
 such a night I should taigle with the women, even 
 though one of them was my own dear May. She 
 came to the door with me, and told me as all women 
 do when their men go out to weir or danger, to be 
 sure to take good care of myself for her sake. 
 
 " I wad come wi' you," she said, " an' help, as I did 
 on the Gairy o' Neldricken, but my lady says I'm to 
 bide wi' her in the keep." 
 
 So with some little pain but a great eagerness, 
 I bade her for that night farewell. 
 
 Then I sought Kennedy Maxwell, who was my 
 chiefest friend among all the brothers of my maid. 
 He was on watch at a window opposite to the great 
 iron gate that stood open. I said I should covet to 
 be near him through what was coming. So he told 
 me to go and speak to his brother Will, who was 
 the captain and originator of the band. Accordingly 
 I did so, and in a little was at my window within 
 a couple of yards of Kennedy, whence I could see 
 down into the courtyard, and also over the main wall 
 of the castle out upon the fields. I could even see the 
 gravelled walk sweeping away through the trees of the 
 avenue. 
 
 It was nearly pit-mirk, for the stars were dimmed 
 and forwandered in the thin cloud overhead. As we 
 stood to our posts, steadily and clearly in a gallery 
 behind a clock struck the hours. 
 
 Once I thought that I heard horses, as though an 
 iron shod had slipped on a stone ; but again it might 
 only have been in the stables of Earlstoun, the noise 
 of a horse rising to its feet. 

 
 THE BARRING OF THE DOOR. 309 
 
 " What think ye they can want ? " said I to 
 Kennedy, " It canna be Hector Faa seekin' May 
 again ? " 
 
 " Hector Faa — my fit ! " he said, in a contemp- 
 tuous whisper; "this is a bigger job than the liftin' 
 o' your jo," he said. " They're after the auld wife's rents 
 an' mails, and maybe they jaloose that my faither's 
 brass kist is here as weel." 
 
 I was at once relieved and disappointed to hear that 
 Hector Faa had nothing to do with the raid. 
 
 " Mind you there's them in this business," con- 
 tinued Maxwell, " that hauds their heids high. This 
 is nae Macaterick's ploy — though of coorse there'll be 
 baith Macatericks and Marshalls there. But the wale 
 o' the Solway Freetraders will be ridin' through that 
 door afore the mornin', an' you an' me wull eyther 
 be suppin' oor parritch in Earlstoun kitchen or 
 gettin' oor kale het in anither place, according to 
 circumstances an' upbringin'." 
 
 "What set them on her? " said I, for the Lady of 
 Earlstoun had always been well thought of as one of 
 the old stock, and never forward in setting on the 
 dogs of justice. 
 
 " Guid kens," said Kennedy, " mostlv greed an' ill 
 bluid. Forbye they hae a pick at us, an' they ken 
 she has gi'en shelter to May. So they think, nae 
 doot, that she is airt an' pairt wi' us." 
 
 "I kenned brawlv how it wad be," continued 
 Kennedy, in a discontented tone. " Oor Wull is 
 aye sae fond o' keepin' within the law, an' he craved 
 permits frae Sir Andrew Agnew to pursue an' mak' an 
 end o' the outlaws o' the hill country. So of course 
 he got it for the askin', an' thank ye kindlv — for the
 
 
 310 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Government o' King George has aneuch to do in 
 the north no to be pleased to get ony jobs like this aff 
 its hand. But the warrant was posted in Edinburgh, 
 an' as soon as word o't cam' to Carrick an' Gallowa', 
 I kenned they wad be a' doon on us, bizzin' like a 
 bees' bike." 

 
 CHAPTER XXXV IF. 
 
 THE SILVER WHISTLE BLOWS. 
 
 "Guid guide us ! D'ye hear that ? " said Kennedy. 
 
 A clear jingling came over the moor. 
 
 " That's a horse beast shakin' its bridle reins," 
 said I. 
 
 Indeed I cannot say that I liked the business at all. 
 It was eery to sit by the unglazed narrow window 
 with one's ears on the strain, and every bird that cried 
 on the moors making the heart jump. A corncrake 
 among the long grass cried "Crake — crake!" But 
 there was something in the tone of it which told 
 me that that bird wore a buff jacket and steel cap, or 
 I was the more mistaken. An owl flew by with 
 a soft waft of the wing, and if I had not seen it, I 
 should not have believed in the hoot it gave from the 
 centre tower where Neil Cochrane stood on guard. 
 He was an Ayrshireman, and I heard him say, "Shoo, 
 you beast ! " below his breath. 
 
 My nerves were tugging at my arms, and had a cat 
 crossed the courtyard I declare that I should have 
 loosed off my musket at it. It was but little that 
 I could see from mv window, save the blackness of 
 
 3"
 
 312 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the courtyard, and the glimmering grey space of the 
 great open doorway where, if anywhere, danger would 
 come. 
 
 Suddenly something black, like a four-footed beast, 
 appeared in that grey space. I had my gun at my 
 shoulder to fire, but a familiar aspect took me, and I 
 dropped it. I recognised the spread of the hind legs. 
 It was Quharrie, and I am sure it was his master that 
 stole like a shadow across the grass plot behind him. 
 
 Whither could he be going ? Was he warning the 
 enemy or acting as our advanced guard ? The ques- 
 tions which had tormented me ever since Silver Sand 
 took our matters in hand came up again with new and 
 overwhelming force. 
 
 Was it still possible that Silver Sand was playing 
 booty ? Could it be that he was, through all his 
 twistings and secrecies, working for the interests of 
 our cruel and revengeful enemies ? 
 
 I had indeed good cause to think so, but then again 
 I simply could not believe it. Once and again Silver 
 Sand had had the whole of us in his power. Had he 
 wished to destroy us on this present occasion, all that he 
 needed to do was simply to lie in his camp and the 
 stroke had inevitably fallen. Yet he had saved us. But 
 why did he for ever hang about the skirts of the fray ? 
 How was it that whenever it came to a tulzie and 
 the swords were sharpened for weir, Silver Sand dis- 
 appeared and was no more to be found, reappearing 
 only to cover the retreat of the foe ? I found no 
 answer, and, indeed, none was possible for me to find 
 at that time. The matter was far beyond me at the 
 moment, depending on something which I never 
 suspected. So I need not have troubled myself that
 
 \ 
 
 THE SILVER WHISTLE BLOWS. 313 
 
 night by the open wicket of the tower of Earlstoun 
 as to the solving of the problem. 
 
 Yet I knew that the enemy could not be far off, for 
 Silver Sand was ever a stormy petrel of danger. But 
 the night shut down again, and I grew deadly weary 
 of inaction. I heard Kennedy softly cursing the 
 universe, and particularly his brother Will, because 
 he was numb with cold and had been forbidden to 
 smoke or so much as to spit — a dire prohibition to the 
 untamed Galloway man who spits in his sleep, and 
 still more especially in church, regurgitating all 
 through the sermon like Solway tide in the narrows 
 of Rathan. 
 
 Outside the corncrake cried as though it were 
 beneath the wall. There was more of the steel cap 
 in the sound than ever. The fellow was near by, 
 under the wall mayhap. Then farther off a heather- 
 bleat, whose note is the clan call of the wolves of 
 Buchan, whinnied as though to it once had been given 
 a soul, now lost without hope, which nevertheless it 
 continued to seek over the breast of the moorland. 
 
 Now I had imitated all the moorland sounds and 
 those of the sea fowl for many a day as I lay on the 
 smooth green turf of Rathan, and there was no 
 bird that I could not summon to me, save the snipe 
 (which is called the heatherbleat) alone. So, as a 
 lad will, I practised the cry night and day, till the 
 bird itself would come nearer and fall beside me like a 
 falling star, or (as I thought) a cherub with a broken 
 wing. So proud was I that I never made soup or 
 him, but sent him off, a very astonished bird, to bleat 
 again after his lost soul upon the waste. At this busi- 
 ness I thought that I could beat even Silver Sand.
 
 314 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 So utter weary did I grow of this time of tension 
 that I put my head out of the window to look about 
 me, thereby inviting a shot had any enemy been near 
 enough ; for, indeed, I never put risk against pleasure 
 all the days of me but I chose without hesitation the 
 pleasure. For some long moments I drank in the 
 night air, and it was sweet to my soul. Again the 
 bird whinnied in the air. I looked narrowly for him, 
 for it was yet early for the snipe to be astir, even in 
 the nesting time of the year. 
 
 Before I knew it my pride came upon me. With 
 my tongue vibrating upon my palate, and my hand 
 directing my voice upward, I let the weird sound float 
 out three times on the night air. So exactly did I give 
 it, that even I was touched with the pathos of it, and 
 tears stood in my eyes for the lonely bird seeking its 
 soul. That is the way I thought of it, and that is 
 the reason I was able to do it so truly. First there was 
 the sough in the air as the bird mounted, then the 
 quiver of the stoop, and the sharpening crescendo as 
 the bird caught itself up again and began to ascend. 
 Never had I done it better. Indeed I did it overwell, 
 and had Will Maxwell known then what he will know 
 now, if any one takes the trouble to read this tale 
 to him, he had come near to taking my life. But 
 even Kennedy at my elbow was deceived, and cursed 
 heartily at the noisy bird, which pleased me more 
 than keeping all the commandments. 
 
 But what happened thereafter still more astonished 
 me. The crake I had heard before immediately cried 
 three times beneath the wall with a human sound. 
 That fellow deserved a bullet in him for doing it so 
 poorly. Yet the quality of steel cap in the corn-
 
 THE SILVER WHISTLE BLOWS. 315 
 
 crake's tones gave a jar to the nerves that went down 
 one's back, and I shuddered in spite of the poorness of 
 the performance. Only the heatherbleat which I had 
 answered went on crying. Again I sent my voice up 
 into the dark lift, and again steel cap cried " Crake ! " 
 I called once more with drowsy whimpering wing — 
 the true nesting sound, and then all soft and mellow 
 out on the waste, clear as a flute, a silver whistle blew. 
 
 Then knew I that at last the fat was in the fire, and 
 I looked carefully to the lock of my piece. 
 
 I heard Will Maxwell speak behind me. 
 
 " Fire when the gate darkens ! " he said, and passed 
 on, a keen soldier with the eye of the Duke of Ramillies 
 himself. 
 
 Then suddenly was the Great House of Earlstoun 
 with all its entrances and approaches belted in a ring 
 of noise. Hoofs clattered up the pebbled avenue, 
 feet stirred about the wall, and from the other side, 
 where the office-houses were, came the sound of a 
 forehammer thundering on a gate. 
 
 A deep voice cried, "Open !" But from the dark 
 of the wall upon the hither side no voice came back. 
 The hammer again thundered upon the wood some- 
 where with hideous clamour. Then with a crash 
 the gate gave, and there came a rush of trampling 
 feet. 
 
 Horse iron clanged on the hard pavement beneath 
 the gate. A man on a gigantic horse filled up the 
 doorway. 
 
 " Hector Faa, as I'm a living soul," said I within 
 me, and so fired. The echo from the little wicket 
 through which I had set my gun deafened me. I did 
 not hear the noise of any other shots, but I am told
 
 3 i 6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 that as soon as my piece had given the signal, there 
 came from all about the house a dropping and irregular 
 fire, first from our side at the ports and wickets, and 
 then a return from the enemy without. 
 
 I saw that the man in the doorway had fallen, and 
 lay across. Then those without the gate drew the 
 horse away, and in the darkness I could see the man 
 trying to crawl clear as though to lie down in the 
 shelter of the wall. 
 
 But now, riding two abreast, a crowd of men drave 
 right into the quadrangle of the court from the 
 entrance. They had been astonished by their recep- 
 tion, never dreaming that the tower was garrisoned. 
 Yet they were not the men to be dauntoned. So they 
 rode in. Why they came on horseback, when it had 
 been better generalship to come on foot, I know not ; 
 but so they did. For one thing the outlawry men 
 never cared to trust themselves far off their horses 
 while they raided into the low country, and every 
 Lingtowman upon the shore kept a swift beast as the 
 main tool of his craft. 
 
 At all events they trampled in upon their garrons 
 till the courtyard was nearly full, and on the strong 
 main door by which I had entered the sledges began 
 to thunder. 
 
 " Fire ! " cried Will Maxwell at last, and almost as 
 one the guns went off, and men tumbled right and 
 left among the horses' feet. 
 
 " Load with lead drops ! " cried the voice of Will 
 Maxwell, high up on the tower. 
 
 " Let me do it for you as I did in the cave ! " said a 
 voice in my ear, softly. It was May Maxwell, stand- 
 ing with shawl over her head in the stone passage.
 
 THE SILVER WHISTLE BLOWS. 317 
 
 Without a word I handed her my piece, and the 
 flask and lead lay on the stone sill. Was she not a 
 soldier's daughter — a Maxwell — and about to become 
 the Lady of Rathan ? 
 
 What right had I to forbid ? Her kind had stood 
 behind father and husband for many a day, with the 
 powder-flask in recent years and before that with the 
 dirk. May was good with either, as I had reason to 
 know. 
 
 The next volley came irregularly, according as the 
 Maxwells and their men had facilities for loading. 
 The drops scattered wide among the animals, and 
 the whole courtyard became a leaping and plunging 
 hell of maddened horses. They blocked the gate. 
 They fought with each other, biting and kicking. 
 The breaching blows upon the great door ceased. 
 The strikers with the sledge hammer were swept 
 away, likely under the feet of the horses, for I heard 
 confused cries and groans as the turmoil swept beneath 
 me. It was pitiful, but I thought on the beef in the 
 sea-chest, for that broad, cold, white expanse with the 
 two red gashes in it had ridden my memory ever 
 since. So I hardened my heart again and fired (as it 
 were) into the brown, May handing me my piece the 
 while as deftly and calmly as a man-at-arms. 
 
 The tide now set through the gate, and though the 
 men had seemed a long time in getting within, the rush 
 of the maddened horses carried them out swiftly, and 
 the courtyard emptied itself like the White Horse 
 Sands when the ebb surges back through the gut of 
 Solway. 
 
 But there were three men and a horse that lay still 
 oji the red flas;s to rise no more. One of the men was
 
 318 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 groaning, but I thanked God that the horse was dead. 
 Dumb brutes in pain I never could bear. 
 
 "Gin that wasna the Miller o' Barnboard that I 
 pat a shot intil, my name's no Kennedy Maxwell," 
 
 said a voice, 
 kye ! " 
 
 " The foul thief — he owes us for fower
 
 CHAPTER XXXVIII. 
 
 THE SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK. 
 
 May had silently stolen away from my side during 
 the outlaws' retreat, without doubt to carrv the news 
 to the Lady Grizel. Again there was a time of 
 waiting, and it was weary, as in the heart of action 
 such times ever are. But the next that we knew of 
 the attack was from the side which I could not see. 
 First there came a thick smoke drifting and eddying 
 round the tower, and then the uncertain flicker of 
 flames, casting red reflections upon the already 
 crimson-splashed courtyard. The ghastly men lay 
 there with black masks across their brows ; but one, 
 in the corner beneath us, had in his agony torn off his, 
 and revealed the features of Gil Macaterick, whom I 
 had seen last by the " Murder Hole " on the side of 
 Craig Neldricken. 
 
 We were waiting thus when Will Maxwell cried 
 from the top of the battlements for ten men to come 
 from the north side to the high tower wall. I sprang 
 away to get before Kennedy, for I knew that one of 
 us would surely be sent back. Now it seemed that 
 Kennedy was certain to get before me, being able to 
 reach the stair first, so I said, " Kennedy, hae ye your 
 
 319
 
 320 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 ramrod? " which made him search, whereupon I sprang 
 before him, setting my hand on his breast and giving 
 him a push ; and so left him using, as was his custom, 
 the language for which our soldiers were noted in 
 Flanders. For this may I be forgiven. 
 
 From the tower top there was a sight worthy to be 
 seen. Men were hurrying about the outhouses with 
 bundles of faggots, and half a dozen of our picked 
 marksmen were shooting at them as at running deer — 
 mighty pretty to see, as one and another dropped his 
 man. 
 
 So here, on the top of the keep, I stood still in wonder, 
 till Will Maxwell came and gave me a great clap on 
 the back, ordering me to cower behind the wall, and 
 do some good shooting for my board and lodging. 
 He kept marching up and down, and must have made 
 a conspicuous mark to those below, for just as I 
 dropped behind the stepped battlements a bullet came 
 " spat " against the wall by which I had been standing, 
 driving most viciously, and fell flattened and frayed 
 at my feet. It was quite warm. Will Maxwell was 
 rolling up one arm with a napkin, using the other 
 hand and his teeth, but looking all the time mighty 
 coolly at the men running round the office-houses with 
 firebrands. The ball had just nicked him and gone 
 its way. 
 
 The burning sticks crackled and a great smoor of 
 reek arose, especially from the back of the stables, 
 where we could hear the poor horses plunging. But 
 the enemy now kept carefully under cover, and though 
 we continued shooting at them I could see no manner 
 of good being done. 
 
 "This is the second time I hae heard the Red Cock
 
 SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK. 321 
 
 craw," said Will Maxwell; " the third I'll be chanticleer 
 mysel'." 
 
 He stood on the tower top looking abroad as calmly 
 as though he had been setting out a day's work at 
 bigging dykes, and then said — 
 
 " This will no do, boys ; we'll hae to get oot by at 
 them ! " So with that he took twenty of us (of whom, 
 alas ! I was not one), and set them ten and ten to go 
 out by opposite doors, with orders to run round the 
 back of the byre and stables to slay all who opposed 
 them, while himself and other three active men 
 scattered and put out the fires already kindled. 
 
 So this they did, while two of the Maxwells kept 
 the gates. 
 
 I was not on the roster of those who were to sally 
 forth from the walls, but nevertheless I slipped out 
 after them from the lesser door on the south side at 
 which the outlaw men had first come. It was great 
 Nick Haining of Dalsleuth who was leading our sally, 
 and the men scoured away to the corner of the barn, 
 dropping on their knees to take aim when they rounded 
 it — no doubt raking the enemy sheltering there with 
 a severe cross fire, for at that moment Will Max- 
 well's party began to shoot from the corner by the 
 carriage house. I did not trouble my head with either 
 party, having no arms with me save my pistols, but 
 ran at once to the stables, where I loosened the plunging 
 horses and turned them out, for I could not bear to 
 see the poor beasts burnt and hear their crying. They 
 were driven fairly wild with the noise, the flickering 
 lights of the torches, and the smoke. Being strange 
 to me, they would on no account let me come near 
 them, but almost knocked out my brains against the 
 
 21
 
 322 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 wall with their flying heels. However, from the ancient 
 corn-crib that stood in the corner and had a good high 
 lid, I swung myself up among the rough joists ; and 
 so with my great jockteleg knife I leaned down and 
 cut their halters one by one, scrambling perilously the 
 while among the rafters. Whereat each turned and 
 made for the door, I giving them a sound scud on 
 the hip as they went past for the peck of trouble they 
 had cost me. So in a trice the stable was emptied and 
 I went on to see after the cows. 
 
 The smoor of reek was thicker in the byre, but 
 luckily all the cows were out and only one little 
 late-dropped calf was in its stall, bleating most 
 piteously. It also I loosed and turned to the door. 
 But no sooner had I done so than I saw our men, 
 with Will Maxwell at the head of them, drive like 
 stour across the yard and in at the open gate, which 
 clashed in the face of the crowd of men that hung upon 
 their tails. It was so quickly done that I could not see 
 well, and in the uncertain light of coming dawn and 
 the flickering of the dying fires I could not clearly 
 make out their numbers. But it seemed to me that 
 there were only eight of them. Several, therefore, 
 must be dead or taken. 
 
 As I thought upon my position it seemed to me 
 exceedingly likely that there might be still more 
 missing at roll-call, and that one of them would be 
 myself. 
 
 The men who had rushed after Will Maxwell's 
 small band to the sally port turned as quickly and 
 ran back whence they came ; for a gun or two cracked 
 from the walls, and a man stumbled and came down 
 on his hands and knees, crawling away painfully on
 
 SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK. 323 
 
 all fours. For me, I lay a long time stretched out on 
 a beam in the byre, and as the beam was untrimmed 
 and of rough tree, it galled me exceedingly. I thought 
 every moment that I must drop for very pain, half of 
 me on either side of the wretched contrivance. I 
 forgot that byre joists are not meant for places of 
 concealment. 
 
 Suddenly there was a noise without. A man came 
 and looked every way about the byre, standing fair in 
 the doorway. I could easily have shot him from where 
 I lay, for I saw the whites of his eyes. He walked 
 stealthily, and the dancing lights without glinted on 
 the blade of the long knife which he carried. He 
 glided within with a bowing slouch that was most 
 unwholesome to see. These things I did not distaste 
 so greatly, but I hated the red gleam of the fired stack 
 which shone in the man's eyes through a narrow wicket 
 of the byre as he looked about. A man has been 
 hanged only for showing a face like that in broad day ; 
 but in the dark of a cowshed, and with the whites of his 
 eyes flickering red, and his upper lip pulled high over 
 his gleaming teeth, I thought it had been the devil 
 himself looking for me. I think that if Hector Faa 
 had come into the byre just then I should have fallen 
 upon his neck. 
 
 There came again the tread of a light foot at 
 the door, and mv gentleman of the red eyes leapt 
 swiftly under me with his knife point down, and 
 sprang into the darkness of the hay-mow at the end 
 of the byre. Then there was stillness. But what a 
 stillness ! My heart beat against the beam like a 
 hammer of wood. I listened till I could hear the 
 spiders spinning their webs. I heard the mice creep,
 
 324 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 and the slaters and little beasties running among the 
 thatch. I almost heard my own flesh crawl on my 
 bones — as indeed I well might, for I think it must 
 nearly have got down by itself, leaving my skeleton 
 hanging there on the joist. 
 
 How long this suspense might have continued I 
 cannot tell, for the light noise at the door went on. 
 Something bellowed outside, but weakly ; and I could 
 hear my gentleman of the eyes and teeth quake among 
 the hay. 
 
 At last the grey oblong of the door was filled up 
 with a living shape. 
 
 " Patrick ! " said a voice I well knew, in a whisper. 
 
 Gracious Providence above be merciful ! It was 
 May Maxwell! 
 
 With a quick snarl like a wild beast, the creeping 
 rascal sprang from the hay-mow at the end of the barn. 
 As he sped underneath me I could see his knife gleam 
 when he turned the blade upwards to strike. But he 
 never reached the door, for one of my pistols went ofF 
 in my hand, more by instinct than of intention. He 
 staggered a moment, and then fell forward, all standing 
 as he was, and so lay, spread abroad on his face in the 
 gutter of the byre. His knife flew ringing to May 
 Maxwell's feet. Down I leapt, and taking her right 
 hand with my left as she stood amazed, and with my 
 undischarged pistol in the other, we ran to the little 
 postern door swift as ghosts and hammered thereon. 
 
 The keeper of it was no doubt at his wicket, for it 
 was some moments before we were spied and could 
 make them understand who was without. Inside I 
 heard Jen raging like one possessed for some man to 
 come and help her to turn the key. It had been
 
 SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK. 325 
 
 jammed with a bar to keep any from turning it with 
 nippers from the outside. For the keyholes at the 
 Great House of Earlstoun one might put his fist into, 
 and one key was a back-burden for a sturdy lad. 
 
 It was only a moment or two that we stood there 
 in all, but it seemed to us an eternity. For even as we 
 waited, quaking, for the opening of the door, certain 
 men ran in front of the byre to find what the shot 
 was, and as the first man crossed the threshold he 
 cried aloud flinging up his hands. Then one turned 
 and observed us at the postern, for he levelled his 
 piece at us. I saw the straight gleam of the gun 
 barrel drop to a black dot, and with all my force I 
 thrust May behind me. A horrid burning pain in 
 my leg and a jerk to every nerve and muscle that 
 threw me back, told me that I was hit somewhere. 
 I never heard any report at all, but I knew that May 
 had caught me and dragged me within even as the door 
 opened. 
 
 Jen was there with a candle, and with all haste they 
 ripped away my stocking and saw the wound. It 
 was a mere nothing. A shot had gone clean through 
 the fleshy part of my calf, happily without injuring 
 either bone or great muscle. 
 
 The wound was not serious, as even May saw. 
 So they washed it and bound it up, and I insisted on 
 going back to my wicket with my gun again. 
 
 But the great raid was over. The Red Cock 
 would crow no more. The day was dawning, and 
 the outlaws and their friends drew themselves away 
 like the grey night- wolves that they were. But as 
 May and I looked down we saw a strange thing. 
 Each dead man seemed to rise of his own accord and
 
 326 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 crawl backward towards the gate. We remained 
 stiff with terror, rooted to the spot with fear, and in 
 a little nothing remained in the courtyard but the red 
 splashes and the broad, shallow pools of blood. How 
 they managed it I know not, but probably, under the 
 cover of a cloud, they sent some of their smaller and 
 more dextrous thieves to carry off the dead for fear 
 of discovery. These, getting beneath, may have 
 glided off with the body, which in the darkness was 
 at once a protective shield and a terror to the on- 
 looker. However it be, I know that not a shot was 
 fired. For me, I would as soon have fired at the 
 corpse at a funeral as at these dead men come to life 
 again, who went crawling off, trailing their blood 
 behind them on the slippery flags of the courtyard. 
 
 The silver whistle blew time and again, farther and 
 farther away. Then the morning came and the sun 
 rose. There was a great silence about the uncanny 
 house till we heard the cocks crowing upon the 
 midden-stead at the byre end. It was passing strange 
 that they had slept safely through all the clamour of 
 the Red Cock crowing. To these answered the cocks 
 of Craigdarroch in distant whoopings, and from the 
 Rathan Isle methought I heard my own noble rooster 
 crowing tinily and airily, like a cock in fairyland 
 when the bells are ringing for the little folk to come 
 home. 
 
 Then we went out in a body to see what we could 
 find. 
 
 In the courtyard there were only the stiffening 
 pools of blood, scarlet splashes blackening rapidly to 
 crimson and puce — unwholesome and horrible. The 
 marks of the forehammers were on the spiked and 

 
 SECOND CROWING OF THE RED COCK. 327 
 
 plated doors all about the handles and keyholes. 
 The windows in the inner dwellings were all 
 broken with bullets, the sashes being splintered. On 
 the roof the flagstaff had been hit and hung by a 
 shaving in a very sad and melancholy manner. The 
 dead horse in the corner, with its eyes wide open, 
 lay on its side. It was well caparisoned, and the 
 mounting of the harness was of silver, both plain and 
 good but wholly without crest or motto. 
 
 " That's no hill-country horse ! " said Will Maxwell. 
 
 " I think I hae seen the like aboot Barnboard," 
 said Kennedy, lifting up the head ; " an' I'm thinkin' 
 that gin we opened the beast's wame we wad find some 
 o' oor ain meal." 
 
 And true it is that the Miller of Barnboard was 
 never more seen on the countryside — neither at kirk 
 or market, holy fair or cock-fighting. 
 
 On the threshold of the byre door lay the knife 
 of the man with the teeth, which I secured and still 
 have on the wall above me as I write here at Rathan. 
 My wife took it down from over the mantelpiece 
 and put it in the aumrie of the spence where she 
 never goes ; but I found it and brought it back 
 again. That is the difference between her and 
 me. I had almost said between men and women, 
 but that might not be wholly true. For she likes 
 not to think on these old dangerous black days now 
 when all is peace, and Galloway is once more a 
 sober place to live in. But, contrariwise, I love to 
 think on every old memory, except only on the white 
 beef in the great sea-chest. That scunners me.
 
 CHAPTER XXXIX. 
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR. 
 
 It was six weeks before I was myself again, though 
 I lay up at the Great House of Earlstoun under the 
 eyes of Jen Geddes and the Lady Grizel. It was 
 wild weather and the winter was setting in earlier 
 than usual, as it ever does when we have a summer 
 season by ordinary good — " two summers in a year," 
 as the folk say. 
 
 There was indeed nothing to take me over to the 
 Rathan, for the Dumfries masons and joiners were in, 
 putting such improvements upon it as the age of the 
 house and its ancient construction would allow. Eppie 
 was on their backs all day long (so Silver Sand told 
 me), fly ting and raging at them for useless, handless 
 loons. I imagined I could hear her, and thought 
 myself well out of the stour and the noise, especially 
 as May Maxwell with her own hands bandaged and 
 bathed my leg each day. She had got back much of 
 her gay spirits, and it was an entirely pleasant thing to 
 have her look in upon me with a smile and a bright 
 word as she went up and down the stairs with a 
 
 duster or feather switch in her hand. 
 
 3^8
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR. 329 
 
 Then I would call to her to come to me for a 
 moment. Whereupon it was her custom if it were 
 morning and she had her house business to do, to 
 tiptoe round and kiss the top of my crown where the 
 parting of the hair is. Now as I have little parting 
 but only a wiry wisp of bristles, any one may judge 
 if this mode of kissing is not a mightily unsatisfying 
 thing. But it was no use to complain. There I 
 sat in a great black oak armchair, which was not 
 a whit the more comfortable because of the fact 
 (of which Lady Grizel and Gib Gowdie reminded 
 me twice a day) that three Earls had died in it. It 
 was a monstrously cumbersome article of furniture, 
 and there was no mode of getting round to the 
 back of it which I could compass with my leg on a 
 stool ; so that May Mischief was kissing her hand 
 to me at the door before ever I could move, and 
 saying in a tantalising way, as she imitated my tones, 
 " Wasna it nice ? " 
 
 The wretch ! 
 
 But it was not always so, for I played fox several 
 times, pretending to be in pain, which with one 
 harder-hearted than May was a game which would 
 soon have spoiled itself. But she never quite knew 
 whether I might not be suffering in earnest, and so 
 (perhaps desiring a little to yield) ventured at long 
 and last within reach. Whereupon she retired for 
 a time and a time and half a time into the depths of 
 the Earl's chair. 
 
 " There's a difference in folk," she once said, merrily. 
 "Jen says that three Earls hae sat here ; but I'm thinkin' 
 gin twa o' them sat thegither at yince in it, they had 
 hardly agreed so weel as we."
 
 33° 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Which made us agree yet more and better. 
 
 So I abode in the snug shelter of the great house, 
 and in the forenights Kennedy Maxwell would slip 
 over and tell me tales of how the great raid on the 
 outlaws was progressing. He told of mighty doings. 
 There were preparations being made on the skirts of 
 the Kells. Bands of men from MinnigafF and the 
 edge of the Shire were to be led by one of the 
 MacKies of Glencaird. They were all to move as 
 soon as the hard weather set in, for the only time 
 to hunt the broken men out of their fastnesses was in 
 the days of a black frost and in the bright time of the 
 moon. 
 
 Now it was into November before I could get out 
 at all, and I was still a little lame in the middle of the 
 month. Yet by the first week in December I could 
 run with any of them up the Rathan Hill. However, 
 I still stayed on in the great house by the command 
 of Lady Grizel, who now openly assured us of her 
 intention of leaving her whole estate to May Maxwell 
 and her heirs for ever. 
 
 " So it will depend on how you behave yoursel', 
 Patrick my man, whether you an' yours gets ony 
 benefit. Men are no to lippin to, an' I'll get Rab 
 MacMonnies the lawyer to fettle it doon sae that gin 
 ye are no a guid wean, May can set ye to the door 
 wi' a bare c Guid-e'en to ye ! ' That's the lilt o't, 
 May, my lass." 
 
 But May, being of Scots bluid and far from reckless, 
 said to this no word of bad or good. 
 
 Whereupon the old lady would say, " Ye're a' alike, 
 you women, afore ye get marriet ; your ain lad 
 is aye c the wee white hen that never lays away ' ;
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR. 331 
 
 but after — my certes, ye never quat dabbin' at his 
 kame." 1 
 
 But for all Lady Grizel's kindness I do not think 
 that either May or I thought anything would come 
 out of her good will and even her promises. For me, 
 I have never been desirous of great possessions, and 
 the old house at Rathan has quite contented me, and 
 to this day I hold that there is no place in the world 
 like it. For I have the warm feeling for the soil 
 which nurtured and upheld me in my youth very 
 close round my heart. And May thinks so too. 
 
 But during these weeks there was ever a shade 
 on May's brow, and I knew what was causing 
 it. She was acquainted with the preparations for 
 the great raid on the den of the Wolves ; and 
 she, that was the daughter of Richard Maxwell, did 
 not dare to say a word to dissuade me from taking 
 part in it. Yet I felt that she was anxious for me. 
 I knew it from the way that she would hang on the 
 words of Kennedy when he came in the evening 
 and we all sat by the fire. 
 
 On the other hand Kennedy and the rest of the 
 Maxwells anticipated this raid as the great pleasure 
 and excitement of their lives. They had taken out a 
 Privy Council warranty for the extirpation of the out- 
 laws as one might take out a license to shoot game 
 in these present peaceful times, and they cleaned their 
 guns joyously and jested upon probable sport. Yet with 
 William Maxwell and some of the elder hands there 
 was a deep and even a kind of perverted religious 
 earnestness in the ploy. They had black scores of 
 death and burning against the outlaws. They had a 
 
 1 Pecking his comb.
 
 332 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 deeper, keener, even a religious hatred also, for the Faas 
 and the Marshalls had been recruited by the remnants 
 of the wild Highland Host that ravaged the Lowlands 
 a generation before, carrying away all that it could 
 carry and burning whatever would not lift. It was 
 always believed that in the gypsies' country there 
 were hoards of the rich plunder of halls and the poor 
 heirlooms of cots, reft away in the terrible years that 
 preceded the unforgotten and unforgiven " Killing 
 Time." 
 
 There was once a minister in Balmaghie who used 
 to add a rider to the prayer, " Forgive us our tres- 
 passes as we forgive them that trespass against us," 
 by saying as often as he used this petition, " But for 
 Thy glory talc' the Laird o' Lag an' a' the lave o' the 
 Malignants in Thine ain hand, lest they repent and it 
 be forgiven them ! " 
 
 So the great raid was in train by the 17th of 
 December. From all sides the men of the Lowland 
 parishes were to close in upon the outlaw country. 
 There was mustering and accoutring along the 
 Solway, and there was no doubt that the Marshalls, 
 Millers, Macatericks, and all the hideous crew that 
 gathered about them knew what was in store for 
 them, for the most part of their women were sent 
 into Ayrshire, and out along the Freetrade routes 
 to Edinburgh and Glasgow. Many of these were put 
 in hold by the Sheriffs of Ayr and Lanark as sorners 
 and limmers, and were safe gaoled when the blow fell 
 on the men whose worthy mates they were. Only a 
 few of the most indurated and cruel, like my friend 
 Eggface, remained to bide the brunt of the storm. 
 
 I
 
 CHAPTER XL. 
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER. 
 
 It was a chill morning in the shortest days when I 
 took my fighting harness on my back, girt my sword 
 by my side, kissed my lass, and swung into stirrup with 
 a sinking heart within me and wet eyes behind me. 
 Right often did I vow that if only I were once safe 
 home again in the old tower of Rathan (from the 
 chimney of whose kitchen I could see the blue reek 
 go up so homely and friendly yet so far away), I 
 would never wear leather jerkin more, nor yet belt 
 the weary broadsword on again. 
 
 Never did soldier more unwillingly ride to battle 
 than I for the first three miles. But when I met 
 with long Samuel Tamson, accoutred with sword and 
 pistol like the best — unmounted, but moving his 
 legs as fast as a horse could trot, I somehow changed 
 my mind. I saw a strange glint in his eye, and I 
 thought of the little Marion whom only I had seen, 
 and only May Maxwell had spoken to, since she was 
 lost on the Silver Flow of Buchan so long ago. I 
 was mustered into Will Maxwell's company, and fell 
 in behind him in the front rank with Kennedy. Three 
 or four young lads, pretty fellows with good horses 
 
 333
 
 334 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 that were brisk jumpers at fences, went on before as 
 vedettes. 
 
 It was a cold, dim, raw day, with a thick yellow 
 haze in the air, and a grim grip of black frost under- 
 foot. The horses' feet fell on the hard road as on a 
 pavement, and sounds carried far. There was a sough 
 of snow in the air. The wind came in little gusts and 
 swirls, flicking the blood into our cheeks as though 
 they had been switched with the ravelled lash of a 
 whip. 
 
 I had risen late after a long night's rest, for none 
 knew when we might sleep again, with so much wild 
 work before us ; and now, when I was fairly on the 
 road, I found strapped to my saddle-bow, within a 
 soldier's blue military cloak that an Earl had worn, 
 many things good and pleasant, which proved com- 
 fortable to a hungry man in a winter campaign. 
 
 It was mighty touching to me to think of one of 
 the very last things May said to me through her 
 tears — 
 
 " See an' keep your feet dry. There's a pair of 
 socks in your left pistol holster." 
 
 And that was as precious to me as many endear- 
 ments. 
 
 We were now riding westward to meet the men of 
 Lower Minnigaff at the bridge of Cree. As we went 
 the air became extraordinarily bitter. The wind 
 indeed dropped as we passed Cassencary, where in 
 the estuary the tide rolled full — a turbid yellowish 
 brown. As we rode clanking into Cree Bridge the 
 small snow began to swirl about us. I believed that 
 we were in for a great fall, and gave my word like a 
 faint heart to turn back, or at least to shelter for the
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER. 335 
 
 night. But the movements had all been concerted, 
 and to pause meant nothing less than putting off the 
 attack indefinitely. Moreover, Will argued very 
 truly that it was a question whether we should ever 
 be able to get so many men and horses to come 
 together for the same purpose again. 
 
 So we went on, and after a little I was not so very 
 sorry, for the thought of having to go through the 
 parting with May (and also the screwing up of 
 my courage) all over again, lay very heavy on my 
 heart, so that I became as eager as any to go through 
 with it at once. 
 
 It was arranged that we were to leave our horses at 
 the Lodge of Eschonchan near Loch Trool, where 
 my Lord Galloway had a post, and kept his men at 
 all times of the year — paying, of course, mail to the 
 Marshalls to escape skaith, and in name of protection. 
 Here we would leave a guard and push northward to 
 cast the die once and for all. 
 
 We counted upon having the young moon, but it 
 now seemed that a moon we should certainly not 
 have to light us on our way, though she ought to have 
 been in the sky by seven o'clock. 
 
 The snow flew thicker but in a curious, uncertain 
 way, as though little breezes were blowing it back 
 from the ground. A flake would fall softly down 
 till it neared the earth, then suddenly reel and swirl, 
 rising again with a tossing motion as when a child 
 blows a feather into the air. 
 
 As we went along the pale purple branches of the 
 trees grew fuzzy with rime, which thickened till 
 every tree was a wintry image of itself carved in 
 whitest marble.
 
 336 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 In truth I liked not the day, and I liked it ever the 
 worse as we went on, though I had said all that I 
 could say with honour. For the yellow mist packed 
 itself dense and clammy about us as we advanced. It 
 had a wersh (raw), unkindly feel about it, and as we 
 rose higher up the water of Trool it hung in fleecy 
 waves and drifts against the brows of the hills. But 
 what I liked least was the awesome darkness of the 
 sky. The mist was almost white against it wherever 
 there was a break, yet itself was dark and lowering. 
 A dismal, uncanny light that I cared not to look upon 
 pursued us and just enabled us to see. I cannot say 
 that it cheered us. 
 
 The feelings of most of us were expressed by old 
 Rab MacQuhirr who had long been herd on the 
 Merrick and was now our guide. 
 
 " Guid save us an' sain us ! " said Rab ; " I like 
 not this day. This is a de'il's day ! Nae day o' 
 God's makkin' was ever like this ! " 
 
 Which indeed may seem a foolish if not unreverent 
 thing to say, but then had you been there and under 
 the skarrow of that ugsome cloud, maybe a belief in 
 the all-ordering Providence would not have served 
 you quite so well either. It is easy to thole the boots 
 when your neighbour is put to the question. 
 
 The Glen of Trool was dark and narrow as we 
 went down into it along the waterside, and the loch 
 itself lay black as night at the bottom of its precipices. 
 It might have been the mouth of the pit of black- 
 ness itself. The faintly falling snow had not lain on 
 its surface, which made me wish that I could unbind 
 my father's Dutch ice-runners from the saddle-bow. 
 He had brought them home with him from the Low
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER. 337 
 
 Countries as curious things for folk to wonder at ; 
 and with them I used many a day to disport myself 
 on the White Loch o' the Clonyard, or upon the 
 Orraland mill-dam when I cared not to go so far from 
 home. 
 
 I fetched them with me, knowing that when we 
 had to storm the fortress of the isle in Loch Enoch, 
 my life might depend on my speed. Moreover, ice- 
 running was an accomplishment seldom tried in Gallo- 
 way at that time, and I hoped to come back having 
 gained not a little honour and reputation thereby. 
 
 After a long and weary plod up hill and down dale 
 the Lodge of Eschonchan rose before us close by the 
 waterside, a place which the Lords of Galloway had 
 used for a hunting lodge ever since they came to be 
 overlords of that part of the Forest of Buchan — for of 
 old only Cassillis and the Kennedies bore the rule there. 
 It is not a large, but it is a strong-built house — though 
 with hardly any articles of furniture, except bowls and 
 platters of the roughest, because it is not wise to trust 
 aught of value to the gypsies, even under the protec- 
 tion of the payment of mail. So my Lord the Earl 
 keeps not his muniment boxes and treasure chests at 
 the Lodge of Eschonchan by the water of Trool. 
 Here, therefore, we had some refreshment, and rested 
 an hour. Then, leaving a guard with the horses 
 just sufficient to protect them in case of attack, we 
 pressed on with most of the younger men. 
 
 Our way lay up the same Gairland Burn by which 
 May, Silver Sand, and I came down in such pain that 
 morning long ago. Yet I think I was heavier of 
 heart to go up it under that gloomy winter sky, for 
 now every step took me farther away from all I loved. 
 
 22
 
 338 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I tried to think that it must be for the best, which was 
 no doubt true ; but somehow the thought did not seem 
 to affect the state of my courage, which had (as usual) 
 sunk down into the pit of my stomach. It was, in 
 truth, cold comfort. 
 
 We marched in close array with skirmishers flung 
 far up the slope to touch any hidden enemy, while the 
 rest came by the narrow path by the waterside, where 
 the burn roared and swirled about the great gray 
 stones. 
 
 We were soon deep among the hills, and yet not a 
 shot had been fired at us. Not a dry red bracken had 
 waved. The rime lay close and thick, and the brown 
 heather kept the feet quiet. Only a scabbard rang now 
 and then on a jutting point of granite, or a nail in some 
 brogan screamed stridently against a stone, harsh and 
 slippery with frost. No whaup or peewit cried. Only 
 on a rock high on the Glints of the Nether Hill of 
 Buchan, a black corbie croaked his dismal anticipative 
 
 son g. 
 
 It was not cheering, all this, yet I felt some real 
 elevation to think that we were soon to come to grips. 
 
 We were just at the corner of the burn where, 
 under a great black face of rock it is hemmed in a 
 deep defile, when our scouts on the hillside set up a 
 great crying, the cause of which we could not at the 
 time understand. 
 
 " Come up ! " they cried. " The water's broken 
 lowse ! " 
 
 Our herd guide and I took the hill at once, and so 
 did many who were acquainted with the wild lochs 
 and precipices about us, and with the nature of the 
 wilder men whose lives were forfeit to the law.
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER. 339 
 
 Suddenly we heard before and above us a tremendous 
 roaring noise, as though the bowels of creation were 
 gushing out in some great convulsion. The hills gave 
 back the echoes on every side. I found myself climbing 
 the brae with some considerable verve and activity till I 
 was fairly among the higher rocks. So active was I 
 that I ran straightway into the embraces of a hairy 
 savage with matted locks, whose weapon was in his 
 hand — the long dirk of the Highlander. But he had 
 not expected any one to come at him over a rock in 
 so remarkable a manner. He took my inroad as a 
 dangerous assault, conceiving that I must have men 
 behind me to be so bold, for he instantly threw down 
 his knife and up with his hands in an attitude of 
 supplication. 
 
 " HurseP be a puir Gregor lad, an' no doin' ony 
 harm ! " was his statement. 
 
 Behind me came our guide, Rab MacQuhirr and 
 Kennedy Maxwell, at sight of whom my captive, 
 taking heart of grace, plunged upwards weaponless 
 among the rocks, and as it was a rough place, with 
 many yirds y or hiding-places between the boulders, he 
 was out of sight in a moment. Of which I was glad, 
 for had Will Maxwell come upon him and his dirk, 
 that hour had been the last of " hurseP the puir 
 Gregor lad." 
 
 But the MacGregor dirk I set in my belt as a 
 trophy. 
 
 The great roaring noise still continued. Indeed 
 the whole of the foregoing since I took the hill 
 passed in a brief tale of seconds. Suddenly we that 
 were up on the side of the Gairy saw a wondrous 
 sight. A great wall of water, glassy black, tinged at
 
 34° 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 the top with brown and crowned with a surging crest 
 of white with many dancing overlapping folds, sped 
 down the glen. Our array was pent in the narrow 
 passage — all those, that is, who had not taken the hill 
 at the first alarm. As the wave came down upon 
 them there was the wildest confusion. Men threw 
 away their guns and took blindly to the hillside, 
 running upward like rabbits that have been feeding 
 in a bottom of old grass. From where we stood the 
 water seemed to travel with great deliberation, but 
 nevertheless not a few of our men were caught in the 
 wash of it and spun downwards like corks in the 
 inrush of the Solway tide. 
 
 The black, white-crested wave being passed, the 
 great flood ran red again in a moment, with only a 
 creamy froth over it, and we could hear the boulders 
 grinding and plunging at the bottom of the burn. 
 
 Then upon us, scattered as we were in confusion 
 over the brae face, there broke a storm of bullets from 
 behind the rocks higher up the Gairy. It was the 
 first sign of the enemy we had found, and we re- 
 sented it exceedingly. 
 
 A strange sense of the unfairness of the proceeding 
 took hold of me. We had come prepared to give 
 battle and to deliver an assault ; but we wanted to do 
 it in our own way and on our own terms. We felt 
 that it was most perfidious (indeed unfair and scoun- 
 drelly) thus to scatter us over a great area of ground, 
 and then have at us when we were least prepared. 
 
 But Will Maxwell had some of the spirit of a 
 general. Standing on a rock, he sounded his pipe, 
 calling all down from the bare hillside, where each 
 man was a mark for the guns of the outlaws into the
 
 THE BREAKING OF THE BARRIER. 341 
 
 closer cover of the burnside, thick sown with boulders. 
 The flood was still running, but was evidently past 
 its strength. The great roaring sped farther and 
 farther down the valley. We gathered off" the hill, 
 running like foxes about the stones, and taking 
 advantage of the chance cover as we went. Bullets 
 spatted uncomfortably among the rocks, but the fire 
 of the hill men was not good, and the light was be- 
 coming uncertain, so that very few of our men were 
 wounded. 
 
 As soon as he had us all collected in the valley, our 
 captain began moving in loose skirmishing formation 
 along the side of the burn towards the loch. The 
 outlaws above us also kept parallel with our march, 
 shots cracked, and on the hillside there was a noise of 
 cheering. But we held on our way, and so far no one 
 was seriously hurt, which showed that the aim of the 
 enemy had been bad. But we knew not if our own 
 were much better.
 
 CHAPTER XLI. 
 
 A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE. 
 
 When we came to the southern side of Loch Valley, 
 whence the Gairland Burn issues, we saw a strange 
 and surprising sight. There was a deep trench, 
 the upper part of which had been cut through recently 
 by the hands of man, for the rubbish lay all about 
 where the spades had been at work. The ends of a 
 weir across the outlet of the loch were yet to be 
 seen jutting into the rushing waters. This had evi- 
 dently been constructed with considerable care and 
 certainly with immense labour. But now it was cut 
 clean through, and we could see where their sappers 
 had first set their picks ; the power of the flood had 
 done the rest. So great had been the force of the 
 water that the passage was clean cut as with a knife 
 down to the bed rock. The deep knoll of sand and 
 jingling stones, which lies like a barrier across the 
 mouth of the loch, had been severed as one cuts 
 sweet-milk cheese, and the black waters were yet 
 pouring out from under the arch of ice that spanned 
 the loch as out of a cave in some frozen Tartarus. 
 
 But as we looked over the black and glistering 
 expanse of hollow ice which swept away to our left, 
 
 34 2
 
 A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE. 343 
 
 bright cracks began to play like forked lightning across 
 its whole surface. The water had been sucked from 
 beneath it, and it held up only by its own weight. 
 The hills echoed the deep-voiced roaring as the cracks 
 and rendings ran across and across. Gradually the 
 play of this flashing and thundering turmoil centred at 
 a point beneath our eyes, and fair in the middle of the 
 loch. An intensely black spot began to yawn there, 
 from which the white, roaring cracks rayed out like the 
 spokes of a wheel from the hub. On the edge of the 
 loch we stood as it were on the rim of a whirlpool, 
 for the ice sloped down from our feet every way into 
 the black centre. Had any one set foot upon the verge 
 of it they had been carried down to the yawning hole, 
 for the entire ice of the loch was giving way as the 
 roof of a great cavern slopes and sways before it falls in. 
 Then with a crash that shook the ground the ice 
 cave fell in upon the water in a thousand pieces, 
 sending the white foam mixed with dark lumps of ice 
 high into the air, while underneath the broken frag- 
 ments tumbled and crunched against one another like 
 bergs in a heavy sea (such as I have heard the whalers 
 tell of). Then little by little, groaning and wheezing, 
 the turmoil settled down ; and Loch Valley, with its 
 shivered covering of broken ice, went to sleep ten feet 
 beneath its level of the morning. 
 
 Hardly elsewhere in Scotland had such a thing been 
 possible ; but the outlaws took advantage of the higher 
 barrier of sand and shingle which had so long dammed 
 back the waters of the deep rock-bound lake. It was 
 a true stroke of generalship, and showed us that we 
 had others than ignorant red-handed Marshalls and 
 bloody Macatericks to deal with. It was so well
 
 344 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 thought on that it did not seem like the rough-and- 
 ready knife-and-bullet method of the common 
 catheran. 
 
 And, indeed, nothing more calculated to shake one's 
 nerve could well be conceived. We were glad to draw 
 together our scattered force, but there is no doubt that 
 by this time most wished themselves well out of it. 
 For me, at least, that six-foot breast of black water 
 and the shining whirlpool of rending ice had taken 
 away any desire for revenge. 
 
 Nevertheless, as the darkness settled deeper, we 
 drew down to the old sheep rees by the Midburn, 
 which are solidly built of great granite stones like 
 a fortress, based upon the unshaken ribs of the hills. 
 There was room for us all here. By nature the place 
 was strongly protected — on the one side by the roaring 
 and dangerous Midburn, and on the other it is fenced 
 in by a morass. Here we hoped to abide in some sort 
 of peace, if little enough comfort, through the long 
 winter night. We had all our plaids wrapped about 
 us ; and my friend Kennedy had carried strapped about 
 him, half for the warmth and half for the good things 
 of my Lady Grizel which it contained, the Earl's 
 great military mantle. Both cloak and comforts we 
 had agreed to share together. 
 
 But this consummation was not at all what I had 
 expected. My chances of glory were few, and the 
 raid seemed likely to end in disaster. To run uphill 
 and take prisoner a shaggy catheran (who immediately 
 escaped again), to be penned like one of a score of hogs 
 in a granite sheep-ree, were not at all to my mind. 
 But how could I better it ? 
 
 The outlaws on the hill had given us no further
 
 A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE. 345 
 
 trouble, and indeed their demonstration against us had 
 been confined to the moment when the rush of the 
 escaping waters of Loch Valley made us give back 
 and scatter. 
 
 " The Carrick men should be coming on by now," 
 said Will Maxwell. " Oh, if only we had some one 
 to go up and see what they are doing ! " 
 
 The old shepherd of the Merrick knew the country 
 best, but he was stiff and old ; and, besides, cared little 
 about the matter. About as little cared I, save to 
 burn the Shieling of Craignairny and get that accursed 
 sea-chest out of my dreams. But I think the devil 
 must have tempted me suddenly and successfully, for I 
 called out among them all that I would put on my 
 ice-runners and go. At which they cried admira- 
 tion and astonishment. Yet I was grieved the next 
 moment and silently called myself a fool for my pains, 
 and that many times over ; but my accursed pride 
 would not let me take back the spoken word. 
 
 May Maxwell says now that that was the wickedest 
 thing I ever did, because I forgot my plighted word 
 and promise to her — I might have let one of the others 
 go. All which I own is true, but then no one of the 
 others would have offered, and so we had all come 
 home with our fingers in our mouths. 
 
 But all the lads of the raid cried out upon me, and 
 said that I was the bravest of the brave, and other 
 things which please a young man. So I took my ice- 
 runners in my hand — which, as I have said, my father 
 had brought from Holland. Kennedy Maxwell and 
 four others, all proper young men with well-grown 
 beards on their faces, whom for this cause I often envied, 
 came to see me safely off, for I proposed first to circle
 
 346 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Loch Neldricken on the ice, that I might be sure there 
 were no enemies lurking about it. This I did, not 
 because I thought that the outlaw men would encamp 
 there, but that these young men, especially Colin Screel 
 and Kennedy Maxwell, who had formerly despised me, 
 might see me start off alone into the night. Such a 
 thick-skull was I, and so void of common understand- 
 ing ! For I ever loved to be admired and to be 
 exclaimed upon for doing that from which others held 
 back. And this same quaint kind of cowardice, for I 
 had little real courage, has often carried me through 
 with credit. I am of the faction of the old soldier who 
 said, when complimented on his bravery in battle, 
 " We are all black afraid, only — we do not all show 
 it!" 
 
 So I had enough sense to keep my fears to myself at 
 that time. Now it does not matter, for I am a man 
 of middle years, and such is the power of reputation 
 that I cannot do away with this repute myself, so 
 that even this plain confession of weakness will not be 
 believed ; which is perhaps, after all, the reason why I 
 make it here. So apt is man at deceiving others — and 
 himself. 
 
 But sally forth I did, binding my ice-runners of 
 curved iron to my feet at the little inlet where the 
 Midburn issues — too strong and fierce ever to freeze, 
 save only at the edges where the frost and spray hung 
 in fringes, reaching down cold fingers to clasp the 
 rapid waters. 
 
 Away to the left stretched Loch Neldricken, the 
 midmost of the three lochs of that wild high region 
 — Valley, Neldricken and topmost Enoch. I set foot 
 gingerly on the smooth black ice, with hardly even 

 
 A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE. 347 
 
 a sprinkling of snow upon it, for the winds had 
 swept away the little feathery fall, and the surface was 
 smooth as glass beneath my feet. Each of the young 
 men shook me silently by the hand. I suppose they 
 thought me at once brave and mad, for I had lost no 
 cattle and had a sweetheart at home to make a bride 
 of. Yet there was I, setting off into the black night 
 in the face of dangers unknown — dangers to which the 
 close-packed well-fenced camp in the sheep-ree was as 
 one's own fireside. 
 
 I struck out from the edge with great strokes, 
 moving my hands with each sway of my body as my 
 father had taught me. In a moment the four lads 
 sank behind me and I was alone on the black ice ; 
 yet I had that feeling of high defiance which all swift 
 motion gives. The ice whirled behind. Following 
 the southern edge, I was between the narrows in a 
 minute. Here a jutting promontory of land — a mere 
 tongue of sand and boulder — cut the loch almost in two. 
 There was a fire kindled on the south shore nearest 
 our camp, and on the opposite side as I sped by I 
 seemed to see two men standing with muskets in their 
 hands ; but so dark was it that of this I could not be 
 sure. If they saw me (which with the fire on the 
 shore opposite to them and the passage through which 
 I went not more than twenty yards wide, they could 
 hardly fail to do) they must have thought me the evil 
 one himself, flitting by as it were on the wings of the 
 wind. 
 
 I sped away with the irons on my feet, cutting 
 crisply through the thin-sprinkled snow, the immanent 
 mass of the Black Gairy casting a gloomy shadow 
 overhead. An odd flake or two of snow came into
 
 348 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 my face as I bent low to look sideways up the hill. I 
 went slowly, moving only my body and hardly making 
 a sound, as the night parted before and closed behind 
 
 me. 
 
 It took but little time to make the circuit of the loch 
 and come back to the narrows ; but as I passed I put 
 on speed, for I knew that it was dead earnest this time. 
 The watchers would now be on the alert and might 
 very properly bethink themselves that the devil did not 
 use iron runners, but wings like the bat. So I bent 
 low and scudded through the strait with the dying fire 
 on one side and the land closing in to trip me upon 
 the other. I was just in the middle and running my 
 best, when a couple of shots went off, and the bullets 
 tore past behind me screaming like plovers whistling 
 down the wind. 
 
 I was so excited with my escape and proud of my 
 daring that I shouted as I flew ; but I had better have 
 held my tongue, for a moment after I saw that the 
 force of my impulse was taking me out of the region 
 of sprinkled ice among a low forest of dense green 
 reeds. As swift as thought I turned, but my impetus 
 was too great. I was carried among them, and there, 
 not twenty yards before me, like a hideous black 
 demon's eye looking up at me, lay the unplumbed 
 depths of the Murder Hole, in which for the second 
 time I came nigh to being my own victim. I remem- 
 bered the tales told of it. It never froze; it was never 
 whitened with snow. With open mouth it lay ever 
 waiting like an insatiable beast for its tribute of human 
 life ; it never gave up a body committed to its depths, 
 or broke a murderer's trust. 
 
 The thin ice swayed beneath me, but did not crack
 
 A RACE FOR LIFE UPON THE ICE. 349 
 
 — which was the worse sign, for it was brittle and 
 weakened by the reeds. The lip of the horrid place 
 seemed to shoot out at me, and the reeds opened to 
 show me the way. I had let myself down on all fours 
 as I came among the rushes ; now I laid hold of them 
 as I swept along, and so came to a standstill but a 
 little way from that black verge. Here I hardly dared 
 to move, till, by slow degrees, pulling myself forward 
 and pushing backward, I got once more upon safe 
 ice ; then I made directly for the shore, for the Murder 
 Hole was more dreadful to me than a tribe of Faas 
 armed to the teeth. 
 
 In a few moments I had unshipped my runners, 
 gained the heather, and was making the best of my 
 way over the Ewe Rig towards the great barrier of 
 Craig Neldricken, behind which Loch Enoch lay. 
 As I went I heard the moor-birds cry — the wild whirl 
 of the whaup and the croak of the raven. Now I 
 knew well that most of these must be the signals of 
 my foes answering one another, because the gypsies 
 can imitate any bird that flies ; besides which, the 
 whaup is but seldom seen on these moors in winter 
 and the snipe never. A thought struck me. I set my 
 hands to my mouth in the way, that I have already 
 described, and made the whinny of the heatherbleat 
 palpitate across the moor. 
 
 Instantly, as on the night of the blowing of the 
 silver whistle, I was answered from either hand j my 
 summons had aroused a whole colony. Only towards 
 Loch Arrow, lying straight in front of me, there was 
 not a single sound. So I called again more persistently 
 and, as it were, querulously ; and immediately set off 
 running headlong upward in the direction of Loch
 
 35° 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Arrow, which I judged to be my best chance of 
 safety. 
 
 More than once I had to crouch among the rocks 
 to let a man run past me, so efficacious and imperative 
 had my second call been. It was a blessing that 
 almost everywhere over all that country there is a 
 capable hiding-place within each half-dozen yards ; 
 else had I been ten times a dead man. 
 
 I skirted Loch Arrow without putting on my ice- 
 runners, because it is little more than a mountain tarn, 
 and I knew that if there were any guards in the direc- 
 tion I was travelling they would be up at the Nicks 
 of Neldricken, or at the Slock of the Dungeon — the 
 passes which are the usual roads to the tableland of 
 Enoch. Without a moment's hesitation, therefore, I 
 set my feet upon the rugged Glints, hoary with rime 
 and slippery with frost. 
 
 Born by the shore of the Solway, with heuchs 
 (cliffs) at my door, and gulls' eggs for my playthings, 
 I was at home wherever there was a chance of holding 
 by my arms. Dark or light did not make any great 
 difference to me, and but that my fingers thrilled with 
 cold as they caught the rocks, I cannot say that I 
 was agitated by the perils of climbing the Clints of 
 Neldricken.
 
 CHAPTER XLII. 
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 
 
 Yet there was that in me as I went, which told me 
 I should never again see the day fair and the sun 
 shining on my own house at home. I had not so much 
 hope of success as a kind of anger against the pride 
 that had carried me up here among the hills where I 
 had no business. I might well have bided in my 
 walled dwelling of Rathan, and, with the credit I had, 
 have taken my wife into my bosom. But I must 
 needs, for the pride of being spoken about, be climbing 
 here on the rigging of creation like a tom-cat on the 
 tiles. And for what ? Just that the young men 
 might wonder and wait, and the message flee athwart 
 the country that none was so brave as Patrick Heron ! 
 Which, indeed, was no truth ; for even now the heart 
 within me loathed my own deed, and I had a most 
 cowardly spirit — the spirit of a mouse, and even of a 
 poor mean mouse. 
 
 Yet must I go on, because the hunters were behind 
 me as well as before. I gripped the icy clints of the 
 granite rock tighter, and set my face to the thick- 
 sown bank of stars above me, for the night had blown 
 clear. Or perhaps, since the cliff was so high, I may 
 
 351
 
 352 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 have risen above the frosty mist. At any rate it was 
 a place of deadly cold, and my ringers became numb. 
 Then they seemed to swell and thrill with heat so 
 that I thought they were dropping off. 
 
 Presently I was on the topmost ledge of all, and 
 crawling a few paces I looked down upon the desolate 
 waste of Loch Enoch under the pale light of the stars. 
 It is not possible that I should be able to tell what I 
 saw, yet I shall try. 
 
 I saw a weird wide world, new and strange, not 
 yet out of chaos — nor yet approven of God ; but such 
 a scene as there may be on the farther side of the 
 moon, which no man hath seen nor can see. I 
 thought with some woe and pity on the poor souls 
 condemned, though it were by their own crimes, to 
 sojourn there. I thought also that, had I been a 
 dweller so far from ordinances and the cheerful faces of 
 men, it might be that I had been no better than the out- 
 law men ; and I blamed myself that I had been so slack 
 and careless in my attendance on religion, promising 
 (for the comfort of my soul as I lay thus breathing 
 and looking) that when I should be back in Rathan, 
 May and I should ride each day to church upon a 
 good horse, she behind me upon a pillion — and the 
 thought put marrow into me. But whether grace or 
 propinquity was in my mind, who shall say ? At 
 any rate I bethought me that God could not destroy a 
 youth of such excellent intentions. 
 
 But this is what I saw, as clearly as the light per- 
 mitted — a huge, conical hill in front, the Hill of the 
 Star, glimmering snow-sprinkled, as it rose above the 
 desolations of Loch Enoch and the depths of Buchan's 
 Dungeon. To the right the great steeps of the
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 353 
 
 Merrick, bounding upward to heaven like the lowest 
 steps of Jacob's ladder. Loch Enoch beneath, very 
 black, set in a grey whiteness of sparse snow and 
 sheeted granite. Then I saw in the midst of all the 
 Island of Outlaws, and on it, methought, a glimmering 
 light. 
 
 So I set me to crawl downward. I went now as 
 though I had left fear behind me sticking to the frosty 
 Clints of Neldricken. The space between me and the 
 loch was hardly a bowshot, and I found myself putting 
 on my runners on the edge of the ice behind a great 
 logan-stone, or ever my heart had time to beat faster. 
 Then I was not at all afraid, thinking that on the ice 
 so black and polished I could distance all pursuers, for 
 none had that art in Galloway save myself. 
 
 The ice sloped away from the edge, and there was 
 a little quiver within me as I slid downwards, lest I 
 should be slipping into such another chasm as I had 
 seen open for me at the Murder Hole of Loch Nel- 
 dricken. 
 
 But only the great flat met me, and I struck out 
 softly. It was beautiful ice, smoother than I had ever 
 seen, having frozen early, and by the first intention, 
 as it were, being close up under the sky — with a skin 
 on it like fine bottle glass. But withal so clear and 
 still was now the air that, do as I would, I could not 
 hinder the ringing of my ice-runners, and the whole 
 loch twanged like a fiddle-string when one hooks it 
 with the forefinger and then lets go. Yet as I swept 
 along, swinging my arms nearly to the ice, and taking 
 the sweeping strides of the Low Countrymen, I had 
 a sense of pride that nothing in Galloway could come 
 near me for speed. 
 
 23
 
 354 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 So sure was I, that with a sweep like an albatross 
 (as I told myself) I circled about to the island whereon 
 was the dying fire. As near as I could observe it the 
 light was in a kind of turf-covered shelter — not a clay- 
 built house with windows like that in which I had 
 spent a night of terror on the slopes of Craignairny. 
 There were men crouching around the fire, all looking 
 out to the loch, from which no doubt there came the 
 strange ringing of my ice-runners, the like of which 
 was never heard there before. Suddenly these men 
 seemed to take alarm, and like a brood of partridges 
 dispersing when one sets random foot among them, 
 they sped every way into the cover. I laughed within 
 myself. But I laughed not long, for as I went 
 I had that sense of being hunted, which comes so 
 quickly and is so unnerving. I heard not, saw not my 
 pursuer. I knew not whether the thing were man or 
 beast, ghost or devil. But I was being followed, and 
 that swiftly, silently. There was that behind me — 
 I knew not what — something that my nature feared, 
 perhaps just because it knew not what. In wild terror 
 I clenched my hands and flew. My runners cut the 
 smooth ice in long, crisp whistlings. The black 
 shores sped backward. On my track I heard ever 
 the patter of feet galloping as a horse gallops, yet 
 noiselessly, as though shod in velvet. As I turned at 
 the eastern end of the loch something grey and fierce 
 and horribly bristling sprang past open-mouthed, 
 straining to take me ; but overshooting the mark 
 with the impulse of extreme speed, the beast shot 
 past with all four feet hissing taut on the glistening 
 ice, yet looking back with fangs gleaming white. 
 
 So to and fro there was the rushing on the glassy
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 355 
 
 ice of Enoch — the beast that hunted me gaining ever 
 on the straight, and I at the turnings. After a time 
 or two I regained my composure in some degree. It 
 was a boy's game this, and I had played it before on 
 the ice, though not with such a fearsome playmate ; 
 nor yet with savage men scrambling and watching 
 among the stones at the edge, dirks in their hands and 
 murder in their hearts. 
 
 But I clearly saw that I had only the advantage so 
 long as I could keep up my speed. Did I slacken or 
 trip but once, the fangs were at my throat. 
 
 Likewise, though the nights were long, the morning 
 must come at last, and then I would be but a poor 
 hare waiting for the shot of the huntsmen, driven by 
 the hounds to die. Yet this I did not mind so much, 
 had there only been some one there to tell May Max- 
 well and the people of my country how I took my 
 fate. 
 
 But very suddenly the end came, even as 1 darted 
 between two isles that stand out of the middle of the 
 loch — my runner scraped the edge of a long ridge of 
 granite, and I pitched over on my face. In a moment 
 I felt the horrible breath of the beast on my face, as it 
 came rushing after and drove headlong upon me. 
 
 I had my knife out in a moment, and struck wildly 
 again and again at nothing till my arm was seized as 
 in a vice. 
 
 Then I heard the sound of men's voices, but faint 
 and far away, as though I were hearing in a dream 
 The light of a lantern shone upon me, and a band of 
 men came clattering over the ice to me. But there 
 was something that stood between me and the stars, 
 something black and large and panting, which faced
 
 356 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 towards the men who came, standing across me like a 
 lion that guards its prey. Yet had the beast done me 
 no harm, so far as I could feel, saving (it might be) 
 that my arm was a little stiff". 
 
 As the men came nearer the beast emitted many 
 short, hoarse growls from deep within. Its body 
 seemed to quiver with rage, but whether with rage 
 at being interfered with in the disposition of its prey, 
 I could not tell. 
 
 " Ouharrie, good Ouharrie, come here ! ,! said a 
 voice from the group which halted three yards 
 away. 
 
 " ghiharrie at Loch Enoch ! " I thought, and it all 
 came clear to me. If Ouharrie were at Enoch, Silver 
 Sand was also there, and I was betrayed ! That was 
 my thought. Yet I was not the more afraid. On the 
 contrary, the conviction put into my heart a certain 
 dumb and proud anger, and I began at once to compose, 
 even as I lay on the ice, the speech that I would make 
 when I met my false friend face to face. For this was 
 my nature. It was a good speech and cutting, and it 
 made me feel that it was a fine thing to die. I was 
 ready to be a martyr, but I was resolved that every 
 one should know how I had been brought to the 
 death — and more especially Silver Sand, who had 
 been my friend. I was determined not to be dumb. 
 I should speak my mind once. 
 
 The men about me kept calling to Quharrie — now 
 threateningly, now as one that fleeches, coaxing with 
 promises. But the great wolf-dog only growled the 
 fiercer, standing across my body with a wide-arched 
 stride. 
 
 One of the men wished, I think, to do the dog a
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 357 
 
 mischief, but the others withheld him, putting their 
 hands upon him to deprive him of his pistol. Then 
 two came from opposite sides to snatch at me as I lay, 
 a little stunned with my fall ; but this so excited the 
 fierce beast that he wheeled this way and that, roaring 
 and snapping, and made such dangerous swift charges 
 that they were compelled to desist. 
 
 Then two men came by themselves over the ice 
 towards us from the island. As they entered within 
 the shining circle of the lantern light I saw it was 
 Silver Sand and another. The men made way for 
 them. Silver Sand strode through them, and I 
 thought he had never seemed so large and strong. 
 I saw him coming long before he knew me, and I 
 hugged myself at the thought of what I should say to 
 him. 
 
 " Give me the lantern," he said. 
 
 As he came, Ouharrie left me and fell in behind 
 his master. His work was done. I looked around and 
 regained my knife. But not to strike. Silver Sand 
 came up and shone the light of the lantern on my 
 face, where I was now sitting up. 
 
 I took the dagger by the point, and offered it to 
 him, saying, " Silver Sand, true friend, here is a knife ; 
 strike quickly at my heart, and make a swift end. 
 Thou knowest where to strike, for thou hast lain 
 against it many a time." 
 
 This I thought mighty fine at the time, and 
 original ; but now I know that I had heard my 
 father read somewhat like it out of an old book of 
 stage plays. 
 
 Silver Sand looked at me, coolly and cruelly as I 
 then thought, nobly and gently as I know now.
 
 35§ 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " Patrick ! " was all he said. 
 
 " Aye," said I, " the same — Patrick Heron of 
 Rathan — where the tent of Silver Sand has stood 
 any time these seventeen years — and stands now 
 ready for him — after — " (I said, nodding my head) 
 _« after " 
 
 " Can you walk ? " he said, briefly. 
 
 I took ofF my ice-runners and stood ready. 
 
 So without word spoken we went back to the 
 famous island on which I set foot for the first time. 
 There on the grey-green grass were many turf huts 
 and shelters. Into these we did not go, but only 
 into the wider sod-built shelter, open to the sky, 
 where the fire I had seen was yet smouldering. 
 
 As we went Silver Sand said to me neither good or 
 bad. I thought I knew that his conscience was busy 
 within him, and I rejoiced like a chidden child who 
 says he will die, and then his mother will be sorry. 
 
 The dusky followers crouched around, talking to- 
 gether in whispers, casting meantime deadly enough 
 looks at me. I sat on a stone and warmed my fingers 
 at the embers. I was so full of getting, as I thought, 
 the upper hand of Silver Sand who had been my 
 friend, that (though I knew that I was as good as 
 dead) I acted a part at that fire among the outlaws 
 as willingly as in a stage play. 
 
 Then one sprang up and made a speech, pointing 
 often at me, and as I imagined denouncing me. I 
 knew not what he was saying, much of the talk being 
 gypsy gibberish. But I knew that the gist was that 
 it was I who had been in the Hut of Craignairny — 
 I who had been their undoing. 
 
 Another and another spoke their minds, and Silver
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 359 
 
 Sand was yet silent. The dark man who had come 
 with him over the ice whispered to him. 
 
 Then the outlaw that had spoken first, the lout of 
 the kitchen, took his knife and came over to me as if 
 to make an end. Suddenly the fashion of the coun- 
 tenance of Silver Sand was changed. He sprang to 
 his feet, and stood before them straight and proud as 
 I had never seen him stand. 
 
 " To me, Faas ! " he cried. " Back, or I will 
 blast you with the black curse of Little Egypt, 
 Roderick Macaterick ! " 
 
 The man slunk back ; but, as it seemed, dourly and 
 unconvinced before the threatening finger. 
 
 Of the men that stood by, some ten gathered them- 
 selves about Silver Sand. The others clubbed the 
 closer together, crouching with their heads forward 
 in a bunch. 
 
 " Who are you," said their spokesmen, " to come 
 among us after these years, when you have taken no 
 part in the danger, and to think to lord it over us 
 now ? " 
 
 " Silence, hound ! " said Silver Sand, with con- 
 suming vehemence. " Well vou know who I am. 
 I am John Faa, of the blood royal of Egypt. Well you 
 remember why I left you : because I am not of them 
 that do murder. Well you know that I have kept 
 free not from the danger, but from the plunder. Now 
 that the plunder is done with, and the danger come, 
 I am here. Is it not so ? " 
 
 There was no answer, but his own followers gathered 
 closer about him. 
 
 " I am here," he cried again, "and here is this lad — 
 Patrick Heron of the Rathan. It is true what he
 
 3 6 ° 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 says, that I have eaten his bread for seventeen years, 
 and my tent stands now with the peeled rod before it 
 by the side of the water on Rathan Isle." 
 
 " And you would break the clan to save this lad 
 that comes to spy on us and destroy us ! " cried 
 another voice from the thick of the adverse crowd, 
 with great bitterness, and, I am bound to admit, with 
 some measure of reason. 
 
 But Silver Sand had this of the royal blood in him, 
 that he took the true attitude of the man of action. 
 He commanded ; he never explained. 
 
 " Down, dog ! " he cried ; " who dares to thwart 
 John Faa — by the king's belting, Lord and Earl of 
 Little Egypt ? Not you that are no Egyptians, but 
 scattermouches and unwashed ruffians from the four 
 seas ? I will hunt you with the Loathly Beasts. I will 
 press on you with the Faa's curse. I will dwine your 
 flesh on your bones, for I am your king, John Faa, 
 and the power is mine, alone and without bound 
 among this people of Egypt." 
 
 The man who had hitherto faced him would have 
 uttered something, but the power was not given to 
 him. His words withered on his lips. 
 
 " Roderick Macaterick," said Silver Sand, solemnly, 
 " on the grave of him that ye slew by the Loch of 
 Neldricken when he was forwandered in the moss, 
 stand the white wraith that curses and the Grey Dog 
 that waits. I deliver your soul to them ! " 
 
 The man fell moaning on the ground. 
 
 Then Silver Sand took to speaking in the language 
 which I could not understand, but chiefly, as it 
 seemed, to his own people. Me he took by the arm 
 and drew me away. So in a body those that clave
 
 THE FASTNESSES OF UTMOST ENOCH. 361 
 
 to him moved off from the island and out upon the 
 ice. Some of the others started up to follow. 
 
 Silver Sand turned and faced them. 
 
 " Him that sets his feet on the ice to follow us 
 shall be blasted quick and sure. He shall never see 
 good days more. You had best scatter and save your- 
 selves, for a heavier hand than the Lowlanders' shall 
 fall before to-morrow upon you for your murders and 
 iniquities." 
 
 The men stood still, hesitating and afraid, and we 
 went our way. 
 
 It was towards the Hill of the Star that we went, 
 Silver Sand leading. When we came to the verge of 
 the loch Silver Sand turned to his followers. 
 
 " Faas," said he, "and you, Hector, bide not here. 
 There shall no assault be delivered by your enemies, 
 but one more sure and terrible by the Almighty. 
 The judgment for murder and crime comes swiftly. 
 Go not back to take part in it, for I foresee that no 
 one shall escape. Haste ye up Doon Water. Stay 
 not for pursuer nor turn aside for foe, but scatter 
 over the country as soon as ye have passed the 
 marches ! " 
 
 The men stood silent and irresolute. 
 
 " I know that ye obey me only because I am your 
 master, John Faa, and your chief. Ye obey without 
 question, like Egyptians of the pure blood. Ye have 
 done well. Go now and be honest, or as honest as 
 ye can, for never more shall you or I dwell in the 
 dens of the Dungeon of Buchan. Fare ye well ! " 
 
 " And who is to be chief ? " said Hector Faa. 
 
 " I that speak am chief. As long as I live I cannot 
 be other than chief, but I give to you my hand and
 
 362 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 my authority, Hector ; " and he added, " It is a poor 
 throne, that of Little Egypt, and no wise man would 
 covet it, but such as it is you stand next to it." 
 
 So on the side of the Star Hill they parted from us, 
 diving into the black night, and we were left standing 
 alone — Silver Sand, who was John Faa, King of the 
 Gypsies, Patrick Heron of the Rathan, and Quharrie, 
 that had hunted me like vermin an hour agone, and 
 afterwards fought for me like a blood brother.
 
 CHAPTER XLIII. 
 
 THE AUGHTY ON THE STAR HILL. 
 
 We clasped hands in the darkness. 
 
 " Now we shall go to the Aughty ! " he said. 
 
 I knew not where that might be, but I was content 
 to go there, being dazed and quite deprived of speech. 
 Quharrie as ever went before. 
 
 " And the Maxwells ? " I said. " I must get back 
 to them." 
 
 " They waited not for you," he said ; " they are all 
 back at the house of Eschonchan by this." 
 
 " But they were to attack to-night," I said ; "they 
 waited only for my return." 
 
 "Well, Patrick, I tell you they are waiting at 
 the house at Eschonchan, but with tankards of ale 
 before them. Be at ease about them. They will be 
 glad to see you when you come, but they thought it 
 better to bide warm at the Lodge of Eschonchan 
 than cauldrife in the snow in the ree of the Mid- 
 burn. In which they showed their judgment." 
 
 So saying he put aside a matted covering of heather, 
 which drooped down the face of a rock, and a light 
 for a moment flashed through the opening, and fell on 
 the bleached grey-yellow bent. 
 
 363
 
 364 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " An' it's as weel ! " said he, dropping into the 
 Lowland Scotch, " for there's sic a storm brewing as 
 has never been seen in your days nor mine." 
 
 The air was chill and damp, but gusts of warmish 
 wind blew at times, and in the south there was a 
 luminous brightness. Just before I entered the cave 
 I looked over the hip of the Merrick, and there, 
 through a cleft of a cloud, I saw the stars and the 
 flickering brightness of the northern lights. They 
 shone with a strange green that I had never seen 
 before. 
 
 " This," said Silver Sand, " is the Aughty of the 
 Star. Ye have heard o' it, but few have seen it 
 since the Killing Time. It is the best hiding-place in 
 all broad Scotland." 
 
 I looked about at the famous cave which had shel- 
 tered nearly all the wanderers, from Cargill to Ren- 
 wick — which had been safe haven in many a storm, 
 for which both Clavers and Lag sought in vain. My 
 father had told me also how he and Patrick Walker 
 the pedlar (he that scribes the stories of the sufferers 
 and has had them printed), went to seek for the 
 Aughty ; but, though Patrick Walker had lain in it 
 for four nights in the days of the Highland Host, he 
 could never find it again. 
 
 " And how came you here, and what came you 
 to do, Silver Sand ? " I asked, as we stood in the 
 flickering light of the wood fire. 
 
 " Will ye hae it bit by bit or a' at a meal ? " said 
 Silver Sand. 
 
 « I'll wait," said I. 
 
 " An' that's best," he answered, curtly. 
 
 The Aughty was a commodious shelter, most part
 
 THE AUGHTY ON THE STAR HILL. 365 
 
 of which had been fashioned by the hand of man. It 
 had a little platform before it, twelve feet wide, in the 
 summer green with grass; but (save for this) from the 
 very door the precipice, scarred and sheer, fell away 
 both above and below. It was, in fact, set on the face 
 of the hill that looked towards the Dungeon, and one 
 turned into it by a sudden and unexpected twist among 
 the rocks. Within it had been roughly floored with 
 small logs, and arched above with the same, so that, 
 though only about five feet in height in the highest 
 part, it yet resembled the inside of a very small clay- 
 bigging, or ordinary cottar's house, more than I had 
 thought possible in a mere hill shelter. There was a 
 fire at one end, the smoke of which found its way up 
 through the matted heather in such a manner that 
 but little of it appeared at the outside, seeking out 
 unnoticed along the face of the cliff. It was the 
 custom of the wanderers, however, to half-burn their 
 wood at night, and then when cooking was needed 
 during the day to make a clear fire of the charcoal 
 — a very excellent plan, and one I should never have 
 thought on myself. 
 
 I had not been long in the Aughty before Silver 
 Sand gave me something to eat and drink, which, 
 indeed, stood ready in a goblet, only needing to be set 
 on the grieshocb l — a kind of stew, very like that which 
 Eggface had made on Craignairny, but richer. 
 
 " Hoo hae ye keepit the secret o' this place sac 
 lang ? " I asked of Silver Sand. 
 
 " Verra simple," he said. " I never telled a woman. 
 But it'll no keep lang noo, for ye'll tell yer May, a? 
 sure as shootin'." 
 
 * Red embers.
 
 3 66 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I had a retort at my tongue tip, but it was struck 
 away by a thought, which made me feel myself a 
 heartless brute. 
 
 "What's come o' the bit lass?" I asked, for 
 speaking of my own lass had minded me of her. 
 "What's come o' Marion Tamson ? " 
 
 "Save us ! " said Silver Sand. "I'm but a gomeral 
 to forget the bit thing." 
 
 Outside the storm burst at this moment with 
 exceeding fury. We had to draw nearer to hear our- 
 selves speaking above the roar of the elements. 
 
 " It's a peety that we didna think on't suner. 
 We'll hae an ill job noo, I doubt," said Silver 
 Sand. 
 
 I asked where she was. 
 
 " She's in the clay hoose o' Craignairny," said Silver 
 Sand. 
 
 That I liked least of all — to turn from the Aughty 
 warm and safe, to face that terrible storm at the 
 house of Black Murder, which I had such good cause 
 to mind. 
 
 "An' the suner the better," said Silver Sand, "for 
 lang afore the mornin' we shall be corked up as tight 
 as if we were in a sealed bottle." 
 
 Through the matted covering which formed a 
 door I thrust my naked hand, and so close and fierce 
 was the storm driving, that it seemed to me as if I had 
 thrust my arm into a solid wreath of snow. 
 
 " Is there no other way of it ? " I said, for indeed 
 I had had enough. 
 
 " No," said Silver Sand ; " the morning will be ower 
 late. She's no wi' guid or provident folk, an' the 
 Lord's arm reaches far."
 
 THE AUGHTY ON THE STAR HILL. 367 
 
 Which seemed to me at the time an inadequate 
 way of putting the character of the inhabitants of 
 the House of Craignairny. 
 
 In a moment we were out facing it. In a step we 
 had lost one another. We were blinded, deafened, 
 blown away. I stood and shouted my loudest. When 
 I got my eyes open I saw a fearsome sight. The 
 darkness was white — above, around, beneath — all was 
 a livid, solid, white darkness. So fierce were the 
 flakes, driven by the wind, that neither the black of 
 the earth nor the dun of the sky shone through. I 
 shouted my best, standing with outstretched arms. 
 My cry was shut in my mouth. It never reached my 
 own ears. So standing, I was neither able to go back or 
 forward. A hand came across me out of the white 
 smother. Stooping low, Silver Sand and I went down 
 the hill, Ouharrie no doubt in front, though it was 
 all impossible to see him. I heard afterwards that as 
 soon as Silver Sand had stepped out he had fallen 
 headlong into a great drift of snow which had risen 
 like magic before the door in a few minutes. 
 
 We went blindly forward through the storm — yet 
 with judgment, for after descending into the valley 
 we saw, as through a partial break, the eastern end 
 of Loch Enoch with the snowdrift hurtling across 
 it. The black ice, swept clean by the fierce wind, 
 showed dark in bars and streaks. We came to sleeked 
 hollows which we crawled over on our faces, for we 
 knew not how far down they went. We stumbled 
 blindly into great wreaths, and rolled through them. 
 In a little we were breasting the ridge of Craignairny. 
 
 "We're on it now," yelled Silver Sand, putting 
 hand to my ear.
 
 368 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 I had set myself against a great heap of snow, and 
 was cowering for the leap upon it when Silver Sand 
 stopped me. We stood against the cot of Craignairny 
 — the House of Death itself. Eggface and all her 
 crew lay within — under my hand, as it were. 
 
 Leaving me where I was, Silver Sand went round 
 the house to reconnoitre. I stood, rather sheltered in 
 the snow, on the side at which the shieling was 
 built against the rock. There was a swirl in the 
 wind, the place was bieldy, and I had time to think. 
 In a little while Silver Sand came back. He signed 
 to me to give him a lift upon the roof. Up he went 
 till he reached the window from which I had leapt 
 that terrible night in the summer of the year. Above 
 it was the skylight through which May had followed. 
 We had come now for the little one who had been 
 left behind — the thought of whom had lain heavy 
 on my heart many a time. 
 
 The skylight was barred with snow, but Silver 
 Sand cautiously cleaned it away, pulled it open, and 
 again came sliding down. 
 
 "If there's onybody sleepin' there, they'll think it's 
 blawn open an' rise to shut it," I could hear him 
 say in my ear. 
 
 The window was not shut. We could hear the 
 wind whistling on the iron edge of it, as though it 
 were playing a tune. 
 
 Again Silver Sand mounted. This time he put a 
 knife between his teeth, and, raising himself on his 
 hands, dropped lightly within. Then a few terrible 
 minutes ensued in which I waited. The wind was 
 so loud that had Silver Sand been murdered within I 
 could not have heard a sound. I only leant against
 
 THE AUGHTY ON THE STAR HILL. 369 
 
 the end of the clay hut and thought what a fool I 
 was and of how many various sorts. 
 
 In a little Silver Sand put his head out again and 
 beckoned me up. I mounted upon the roof, my knee 
 sinking among the waterlogged, evil-smelling thatch. 
 When I reached the skylight Silver Sand suddenly 
 thrust out something to me wrapped in a plaid. It 
 was heavy, warm, and soft. The child, Marion 
 Tamson herself, lay in my arm, but wasted and thin. 
 She was no great weight for all her seven years. We 
 were out and down in a trice. The skylight was 
 again shut behind us, and the snowstorm blinding 
 and shrieking about us. Quharrie I saw now. He 
 had been sitting on the rigging of the house, looking 
 into the skylight all the time that Silver Sand was 
 within, a statue graven in the granite of the hills, his 
 wild wolfish front shaggy with driven and frozen 
 snow. 
 
 Down among the drifts we stumbled — up again 
 over the hill, not a word spoken all the time, leading 
 time about, the hindmost man carrying the little 
 lamb that was too frightened to cry in the wild roar 
 of the storm and the darkness of the plaid neuk. But 
 loving arms held her, and I think she knew it. 
 
 Ouharrie led us straight to the mouth of the 
 Aughty. Without ceremony he shoved his sharp 
 nose under the covering of matted heather and sprang 
 in. Before we could cast a plaid, loose a button, 
 or even take our little stolen lamb out of her bieldv 
 nook, Ouharrie had curled himseif about upon the 
 hearth and gone to sleep, as though it were a fine 
 night and he had just come in from a friendly turn on 
 the hill after the rabbits. 
 
 24
 
 3JO THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Then, all wrapped in her shawls, clean as every- 
 thing about Eggface was clean (to give the devil his 
 dues), we got little Marion out. I took her on my knee 
 and talked to her, for I had ever a way with children, 
 as even May allows. At first the child watched with 
 eyes full of terror ; yet it was not long before I won 
 her heart, and she was cheerily talking of brighter 
 days. But in the midst of it all, even whilst she was 
 laughing merrily, her head would fall on my shoulder 
 and she take to crying as though her little heart 
 would break. 
 
 Now this I could not understand, for I thought 
 the worst was past, yet I had sense enough not to ask 
 any questions, but only to rock her on my knee and 
 hush her to sleep. Silver Sand made up a bed of 
 warm blankets for her before the fire, and she rested 
 there very simply and sweetly, though her hands 
 twitched and pulled at the coverings, and once or 
 twice she waked out of her sleep with a sharp cry. 
 
 Then I cursed them that had caused the innocent 
 bairn to do the like and said to myself, "Wait till we 
 hae ye a year at the Rathan, Marion, we'll gar y e 
 forget a' this o't." 
 
 This also came to pass, by the blessing of God. 
 
 On the morrow the great storm was in no way 
 abated, but nevertheless we abode here in the Aughty 
 with much content. We had plenty of good bacon- 
 ham and meal, tons of water outside for the melting, 
 loads of peat fuel from Kirreoch moss. We were in no 
 wise unhappy — though I had the grace to be con- 
 tinually thinking about them that must be anxious 
 concerning me. But yet I was over young to think 
 much even of that. Hardly any man is thoughtful
 
 THE AUGHTY ON THE STAR HILL. 371 
 
 for others till he is well past thirty. May Maxwell 
 says " Not then ! " 
 
 That night, while the maid slept, Silver Sand began 
 to tell me all his story which J marvelled much to 
 hear.
 
 CHAPTER XLIV. 
 
 THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS. 
 
 Without, the hurricane drove ever from the south. 
 It was the first of the famous Sixteen Drifty Days 
 which are yet remembered over all the face of the hill 
 country, when of sheep and cattle the dead far out- 
 numbered the living. The snow drove hissing round 
 the corner of the Aughty and faced against the 
 entrance in a forty foot wreath. Looking down in 
 the breaks of the storm we could see only the wild 
 whirl of drifting whiteness in the gulf of the Dungeon 
 of Buchan. 
 
 But it was warm and pleasant within. The fire 
 drew peacefully with a gentle draught up the side of the 
 rock, and the heather couches on the floor were dry 
 and pleasant. Even the House of Rathan had hardly 
 been more homelike than the cave called the Aughty, 
 on the eastern face of the precipice of the Star which 
 overlooks the Dungeon. 
 
 It was here that Silver Sand, that was John Faa, 
 belted Earl and Gypsy, told his story. 
 
 " There was never," he said, " I think, any man so 
 strangely driven as I of the gypsy blood, who am 
 yet an earl of this realm of Scotland j I who am of 
 
 V 2
 
 THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS. 373 
 
 the reiver kin have ridden with the king's men and 
 worn the dragoon's coat ; I that have looked on at 
 many a killing of the poor Whig folk, have lain at 
 Peden's hip in the caves by the Crichope Water — a 
 true-blue Whig mysel' ! 
 
 " I that was Richard Cameron's man and proscrivit 
 by the Government of the Stuarts, have likewise lain 
 under ban by the Government of the Whigs for the 
 riding and reiving of my clan. King's man or Hill 
 Whig, Society man or Lag's rider — the Faa has ever 
 been at the tow's end ; and never, save as puir Silver 
 Sand that maks his living by the keel and the scythe 
 sand, has he ever rested sound in his bed. 
 
 " I was but a young lad when the riding time 
 began, an' there was screevin' and chasm' over a' 
 the Westland after the Whigs. All this to a gypsy 
 of the blood royal was but the squattering and 
 quackin' of ducks upon a mill-dam — a matter for 
 themselves. But I was in Dumfries on a day, and 
 standin' on the brig-end o' Devorgill, wha should 
 come bv up the Vennel but the red-wud Laird 
 o' Lag. 
 
 "'There's a proper lad that should be nae Whig,' 
 he cried, as soon as ever he saw me standing there ; 
 ' I ken by the cock o' his beaver bonnet and the 
 gawsy feather intil't.' 
 
 " The troop that was riding with him, three files 
 of King's troopers, and some young blades o' the 
 country lairds that cam' themselves wi' twa-three led 
 horses to ride wi' Lag — maistly lads that hated the 
 Kirk for meddlin' wi' their gentrice richt o' free 
 fornication, cried oot for me to mount an' ride wi' 
 them.
 
 374 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " ' Wull ye talc' service wi' the King, His Excellent 
 Majesty, an' wull ye curse the Whigs ? ' they 
 said. 
 
 " That last I was fain to do ; indeed I loved 
 them little, for they had held my father's sept down 
 wi' an iron hand all through the thirty years of their 
 greatness. But to ride wi' the trooping men and 
 bite bread wi' them, was just as little to the stomach 
 of a Faa. 
 
 " But needs must when the devil drives. 
 
 " c Fess him on till the bonny braes o' Max- 
 welltoon ! ' cried the laird ; ' he can mount an' hunt, 
 or he can bide an' blood when we get him there.' 
 
 " So they carried me across till we came to a wide 
 grassy place where the broom was growing and the 
 wind blowing. It was fresh and free, and the 
 innocent birds were singing. 
 
 " Lag halted his troop. 
 
 "' Noo, bonny lad,' says he, 'we hae little time to 
 pit aff wi' the likes o' you, but ye can hae the free 
 choice. Here's a silver merle, for the King's arles, 
 and here's Sergeant Armstrong's file wi' twal unce o' 
 the best lead bullets. Three meenites to tell us 
 whatna yin ye'll hae.' 
 
 "The birdies whistled on the yellow whins, and 
 the wind waved the branches they sat on. The 
 summer airs blew soft. The green leaves laughed 
 drily. They were beech-leaves, and their talk is aye 
 a wee malicious. 
 
 " In three minutes I was mounted on a grey horse 
 o' the wild laird's, and that nicht they drank me 
 fu' in the auld Lag's Too'er, where to this day that 
 same laird, that has his hand black with blood,
 
 THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS. 375 
 
 sleeps in his silken bed under the safe conduct o' the 
 Government — while I that have been under a dozen 
 Governments nor done ill to yin o' them, am a 
 broken man and the King's enemy to this day. But 
 then I am but John Faa and an Egyptian. 
 
 " But sae we rade an' better rade at the tail o' the 
 wicked laird, an' as for his ill-doin' and ill-speakin' 
 there was nayther beginnin' or end to it. 
 
 " He wad ride up to a farmhoose an' chap on the 
 door wi' the basket hilt o' his broadsword. 
 
 " ' Is the guidman in ? ' says he. 
 
 " ' 'Deed, he is that ! ' says the mistress ; ' he's gcttin' 
 his parritch.' 
 
 "'Haste him fast, then,' says , Lag, c for the Arch- 
 angel Gawbriel' (nae less) 'is waitin' to tak' his 
 fower-'oors 1 wi' him, an' it's a kittle thing to keep 
 the likes o' him waitin' ! ' 
 
 "Then in ten minutes that wife's a weedow, an' 
 gatherin' up her man's harns in a napkin ! 
 
 " Ridin' under the cloud o' nicht to droon the psalm 
 wi' the rattle o' the musket shot ; oot on the wide 
 uplands, where there are but the bumbees an' the 
 heatherbleats, stelling up a raw o' five or six decent 
 muirland men on their knees, as yince I saw at 
 Kirkconnel, some wi' the white napkins roond their 
 broos, an' some lookin' intil the gun muzzle, it was 
 waesome wark — waesome wark ! An' the curse o' 
 God Almichty has lain on a' that had a hand in it 
 — savin' that de'il's knight, Sir Robert himsel', wha's 
 iniquities the Almichty is most surely reckoning at 
 compound interest, for he sits snug an' hearty to this 
 day in his hoose at Lag's Too'er, while in muckle 
 
 1 A meal taken at four o'clock in the afternoon.
 
 376 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Hell the de'il banks his fires and heats his irons for 
 him. 
 
 " B ut there was yae mornin' that I gat my fill — 
 heathen gypsy though I was. We had lain a' nicht at 
 Morton Castle, an' it was daybreak or we set hip to 
 saddle leather. There was a bairn that we cam' on by 
 the gully o' the Crichope — a laddie o' ten. He was 
 sittin' by his lane in a bit bouroch when we cam' up 
 till him, whistlin' like a Untie. He had a can o' the 
 guid sweet milk an' a basketfu' o' bannocks. He was 
 close by the mouth o' the Linn. It behoved, then, 
 that he was takkin' them to some cave whaur the out- 
 lawed minister was hiding. 
 
 " It was just like the laird to get the lad to inform. 
 It was sic a bit o' de'il's wark that pleasured him weel 
 an' also David Graham that they had made Sherra o' 
 Gallowa' in the place o' the Agnews o' Lochnaw. 
 They war a bonny pair. They feared the bit boy, 
 half damn, half in earnest, till the wean was blae wi' 
 fricht. 
 
 " Lag gruppit him by the collar and shook him by 
 the coat-neck ower the Linn, like a bit whaulpie that 
 ye micht lift by the cuff* o' the neck. 
 
 " ' Tell,' he says, ' whaur lies auld Tarn Glen, or 
 ower ye gang.' 
 
 " The bit laddie lookit doon, an' — O Paitrick ! me 
 that is an auld man can see the terror glint in the e'e 
 o' him as he saw the great trees nae bigger than berry 
 busses at the bottom. Syne he lookit up at us that 
 sat oor horses ahint the laird and the sherra. 
 
 " ' Hae nane o' ye ony wee laddies at hame that ye 
 should let a bairn dee ? ' 
 
 " He had a voice like a wean I yince kenned, and at
 
 THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS. 377 
 
 the word o' him, I that was but a youngster, an' no 
 lang frae the mither's milk mysel', burst out in a kin 
 o' gowl o' anger. 
 
 " Lag turned quick, the de'il's dead-white thumb 
 marks on ilka side o' his nose. 
 
 " ' What cursed Whig's that r ' says he, in his death 
 voice. 
 
 " Then I canna tell whether the bairn's bit coatie 
 rave oot o' his hand, or whether Lag let him drap; but 
 when we lookit again there was Lag's hand empty, an' 
 up the Linn cam' a soun' like a bairn greetin' in the 
 dark his lane. 
 
 " Lag stood maybes three heart-loups in a swither. 
 I think he hadna juist bargained for that, but he turns 
 an' cries wi' a wave o' his ruffled lace band — 
 
 " ' The corbies will hae sweet pickin' afF that whalp's 
 bones ! ' 
 
 " But I had had aneuch an' mair — a bellyfu' to settle 
 me for yince an' a'. 
 
 " I was afF my horse an' doon amang the busses on 
 the Linn side wi' a great clatter o' stanes. 
 
 " ' Wha's that ? ' cries Lag, ower his shoother, for he 
 was turned to ride awa'. 
 
 " c Gypsy Jock,' says yin, 'deserted ' 
 
 " ' Give him a volley, lads. I never thocht the loon 
 a true man ! ' cried Lag. 
 
 " But the riders had little stomach for the shootin'. 
 The wee bit laddie lay on their hearts, and in especial 
 his words, for most o' them had bairns o' their ain, 
 though some no juist owned wi'. So but few shot 
 after me, an' them mostly Hielan' men that kenned no 
 English except ' Present! Fire!'' whilk they had heard 
 often aneuch in a' conscience since they rade wi' Lag.
 
 378 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " I was doon atkhe laddie afore the troop had ridden 
 away. But he was bye wi't. A bonny bit laddie as 
 ever ye saw. I carried him till his mither, strippin' aff 
 the regimentals as I gaed, but keepin' the sword, the 
 musket, an' the brass mounted pistols. His mither 
 met us at the gable end. The bairn had the empty 
 can claspit in his wee bit hand. O sirce me ! sirce 
 me ! Paitrick ! gin I could forget it " 
 
 And Silver Sand set down his head on the rude shelf 
 in the Aughty and sobbed till I feared he might do 
 himself a hurt. 
 
 " An' his mither took him oot o' my airms, that am 
 but a rude man ; an' she said never word, neither did 
 the tear rin doon her cheek, but bade me come ben as 
 ceevil as gin I had been a minister. She set before me 
 to eat, but ye may ken what heart I had for victual. 
 I juist roared an' grat, but she pat her hand on my 
 shoother, an' hushed me as gin I had been the mourner. 
 Syne she laid him on the bed. 
 
 " ' My wee Willie,' says she, as she smoothed his 
 bonny broo an' kaimed his hair that was lang and 
 yellow an' fell on the sheet in wavy ringlets. 
 
 " ' Even so,' she said, * Lord, I had thocht ye 
 micht hae spared this bit boy to me for company, 
 seein' he was the last. But it's no to be. Yin at 
 Drumclog, yin at Kirkconnel, an' yin by the bonny 
 links o' the Cluden. I thocht the Lord wad hae 
 spared the widow's yae bit hindmost lamb. The wull 
 o' the Lord be dune.' 
 
 " She turned sharp to me. 
 
 " * Hoo died he ? ' she asked, as calm as ' What's-o'- 
 the clock ? ' 
 
 " I tried to tell her, between the sabs — her waitin'
 
 THE SIXTEEN DRIFTY DAYS. 379 
 
 till I cam' to mysel' an' giein' me a bit clap on my 
 shoother — me that am but a sinfu' man, as if I had 
 been her ain bairn himsel'. 
 
 " ' Noo na — noo na,' says she, aye fleechin' like. 
 
 " O wae's me ! wae's me ! " Silver Sand cried, 
 sinking his head on the table board. " The Lord 
 forgie the sins o' my youth." 
 
 I was weeping too by this time, and I think the 
 King himself had wept as well to hear the tale. 
 
 Silver Sand went on. 
 
 " She stood ower him a gye while, sortin' him an' 
 touchin' him an' straikin' him. 
 
 " c He was a carefu' boy,' she said, c an' that guid to 
 his mither, my bit boy Willie ! Ye helpit her ilka 
 day, an' ye sleepit in her bosom ever since her ain 
 guid man won awa'. Aye, Willie, my wean, ye sail 
 sleep this yae nicht in yer mither's airms, for they 
 shall never meet aboot onything that is the desire o' 
 her heart in this world mair. Even this yae nicht ye 
 shall lie in the airms o' her that bore ye, an' that close 
 again her side, where she carried ye the black year she 
 lost her man.' 
 
 " She turned to me with a kind o' anger. 
 
 " 4 An' what for no ? ' she said, as if I had forbidden 
 her. ' An' what for no, I wad like to ken ? Pit your 
 hand on him, man ; he's warm an' bonny — no a mark 
 on him that the yellow lint locks canna cover, an' that 
 I can wash. What for shouldna he sleep by his ain 
 mither ? He will sleep sae soond. I'll no wakkin' him 
 gin he be tired. This mornin' I raise on my bare 
 feet that he should get a langer lie and a soond sleep 
 — aye, an' a soond sleep he's got, my laddie, O my 
 laddie !
 
 38o 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 
 "'An' ye were a kind boy to your mither, Willie 
 — a kind, kind boy — an' I hae nae mair ; it's a sin 
 to mourn for them that the Lord has ta'en. But 
 O he was a carefu' boy Willie, an' the maist thochtfu' 
 for his mither. See man, see — he has brocht his 
 mither's bit can safe hame in his hand ' 
 
 " O, waes me ! waes me ! " wailed Silver Sand, 
 rocking himself to and fro, so that little Marion woke, 
 and seeing us weeping, wept too, like a young child 
 that knows not why. 
 
 Then there was a long pause, and the fire flickered 
 and the wild storm raved outside the Aughty. And 
 the storm within our bosoms sobbed itself out, and we 
 watched little Marion silently till she slept again, our 
 right hands being clasped each in the other.
 
 CHAPTER XLV. 
 
 ALIEN AND OUTLAW. 
 
 " So that day," continued Silver Sand, " made me a 
 believing man — that is, so far as a gypsy and a Faa 
 may be a believing man. 
 
 " But it was a long time before I was trusted by 
 the moormen, because I was known for a gypsy and a 
 red-hand follower of the chief persecutor. I was even 
 as Paul at Damascus to them ; yet in time they 
 believed, and treated me not as a spy but as a brand 
 plucked from the burning. Yet it was my lot to be 
 cast among the extremer sect, who were the followers 
 of Richard Cameron. 
 
 " As you may have heard, these received but scant 
 justice at the Revolution, so that when all was over, 
 and I went to what home I had, I found that they of 
 my own clan had been attainted, and were under worse 
 condemnation than ever, for their lawless deeds whilst 
 I had been away from them. 
 
 "It was not likely that I could take part with 
 them now, for the order of the King's council caused 
 them to become worse outlaws and reivers than ever — 
 though, I think, no murderers. 
 
 " Yet I could not live with them ; nor, being a 
 
 3 8i
 
 382 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Faa, and the chief, could I betray them. Nor yet, for 
 my father's sake and my name's sake, would I claim 
 any indulgence that might not be extended to them. 
 So I took to the hills and to the trade of selling the 
 bonny scythe sand and the red keel for the sheep. 
 And though I have not where to lay my head, I am 
 a better and happier man, than the man who witnessed 
 that sight by the Linn of Crichope ever deserved to 
 be. But I have dwelt with my Maker and humbled 
 myself before Him in secret wood and lonely fell. 
 The men of the hills ceased their hiding in the mosses 
 and moors near forty years agone — all but one, and he 
 a persecutor, a heathen man, and one whose hand had 
 been dyed in the blood of God's saints. For forty 
 years I have dwelt where God's folk dwelt, and 
 striven with the devil and the flesh in many a strange 
 place — often not sure whether indeed I had gotten 
 me the victory. 
 
 " And I fear me that in these later troubles I have 
 taken too much to do with carnal things, for which 
 I must be constant in prayer that the Lord will forgive 
 me — an unworthy man and an aged. But I have not 
 steeped my hands in taking of blood ; and, so far as 
 I may, I have both been faithful to my friends and 
 to my name. But the task has not been light, and 
 sometimes I have suffered from the unbelief of 
 both." 
 
 I stretched out my hand, and humbly asked him to 
 
 forgive me my unjust words and unworthy suspicions. 
 
 " And I cannot call you aught but Silver Sand, and 
 
 you will come and camp by the Water of Rathan ? " 
 
 I said. 
 
 Silver Sand assented with a sweet smile, and took
 
 ALIEN AND OUTLAW. 383 
 
 my hands and kissed them ; for a gypsy has strange 
 ways. 
 
 But there were many things that I desired to have 
 explained. 
 
 "Why did you, being the man you are," I said, 
 " threaten warlock threats to the men down there the 
 other night ? " 
 
 Silver Sand smiled. 
 
 " In Rome I must do as the Romans," he said ; 
 which, however, I did not think a very sound exposi- 
 tion or deduction. 
 
 " But could you indeed perform these things ? " I 
 asked, still doubtfully. 
 
 " They believed I could, which is the same thing. 
 You see," he went on, " I have been forced to practise 
 simple stratagems to keep myself safe between a wild 
 clan and an unjust law, and there are many things 
 that are easy to do and hard to make others under- 
 stand. My arms which were twisted in the torture 
 of the Star Chamber before James, Duke of York, 
 have served me in that I can run like a beast, and 
 when we hunt as the Loathly Dogs, Quharrie and I 
 fear the foolish folk out of their wits." 
 
 " Indeed, I think you are no that canny mysel'," I 
 said, with a kind of awe on my face. 
 
 " Weel," said Silver Sand, " I doubt not that gin 
 some o' the landward presbyteries got me, I micht 
 burn even at this day, as did Major Weir. Yet is all 
 my magic of the simplest and most childish — even as 
 simple as keel and scythe sand." 
 
 I asked, had he ever applied for grace from Govern- 
 ment. 
 
 He told me no ; for that there were none in any
 
 384 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 Government who would believe that a Faa could be 
 other than a sorner and a limmer. That grapes do 
 not grow on thorns nor figs on thistles is good 
 Government doctrine. 
 
 "An' to tell the truth," said John Faa, "I was 
 none that anxious, for I am a man that has been so 
 long at the horn, that I could not lie happy were I 
 hand in glove wi' King's men and baron baillies. I 
 love best the fowl o' the air that cackle and cry on 
 the moorland, the spotted eggs o' the pee-wees an' the 
 great marled eggs o' the whaup, the fish frae the burn 
 an' the haddock frae the salt sea flats. All these and 
 the taking o' them are marrow to the bones o' Silver 
 Sand." 
 
 I asked him again (but not continuously, for we 
 had plenty of time for our converse, during the sixteen 
 days and nights of the great storm) among other 
 things, what he thought of the Freetraders. He gave 
 me a queer look. 
 
 " I think verra much what your faither thocht," 
 said he, " in his latter days. I dinna meddle wi' the 
 stuff" mysel', but I lay no informations on them that 
 hold otherwise. I hae nocht, for instance, to say 
 aboot your freends the Maxwells — only (a word in 
 your lug) gin I war you I wad pit my fit doon again 
 them using the cellars o' Rathan for their caves o' 
 storage." 
 
 He nodded significantly. 
 
 " Ye dinna mean that they hae dune that ! " I said, 
 with indignation. 
 
 " An' what else ? " said Silver Sand. " They are as 
 fu' as they can stick o' French brandy, and Vallen- 
 ceens ; an' gin ony o' Agnew's men were gaun snowkin'
 
 ALIEN AND OUTLAW. 385 
 
 roond, it micht cause misunderstandings atween them 
 that's in poo'er an' you that's sic a grand King's 
 man." 
 
 " And are you quite content as you are, Silver 
 Sand ? " I said to him again, to pass the time. Little 
 Marion, to whom the quiet of the cave was heaven, 
 sat at our feet and played with the quaint toys which 
 Silver Sand had made her. 
 
 " Content ! " said Silver Sand ; " what for shouldna 
 I be content ? I ken nane that has mair cause to be. 
 I look on the buik o' God a' the day under His wide, 
 high lift for a rooftree, an' often a' nicht forbye gin 
 the storms keep aff. I hae God's Word in my oxter 
 forbye — see here ! " 
 
 He pulled out two dumpy little red-covered Bibles, 
 with the Old Testament divided at Isaiah, and the 
 Psalms of David in metre, very clean, but thumbed 
 yellowish like a banknote at the end. 
 
 " What mair could a man want ? " he said. 
 
 " But sellin' the sand an' the keel can only tak' a 
 sma' part o' your time — what do ye do wi' the rest 
 when ye are awa' frae the Rathan ? " 
 
 Silver Sand smiled and made a curious little noise 
 in his throat, as May does when she calls the hens for 
 their " daich." 
 
 " I play at bogle wi' the lasses," he said, " aboot the 
 cornstacks." 
 
 I looked at him, and was silent with surprise. He 
 had just been telling me that his aim was to be a 
 godly man according to his possible. 
 
 " Did ye never hear o' the Brownie ? " he said, 
 seeing my surprise. 
 
 " Aye," said I ; u but I believe nothing in freets. 
 
 2 5
 
 386 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 There's nae siccan thing." For being young I knew 
 no better. 
 
 " The first starlicht nicht after we are back at the 
 Rathan I'll show ye," said he. 
 
 " Tell me noo," I said, " Guid kens there's plenty 
 o' time in this auld Aughty." 
 
 " Tell on," said Marion, who was awaking quickly 
 from her daze, and beginning to take an interest in 
 many things. 
 
 If I could have forgotten the great rambling house 
 where the women-folk waited — May and Eppie and 
 the Lady Grizel — these days in the Aughty, with the 
 wild men and the wild nature alike shut out, with the 
 peril past (or so I thought) had been as happy and 
 memorable as any in my life. I have often noticed 
 that an unexpected experience of bodily comfort, as 
 coming to a house wet and weary and finding a 
 welcome, a warm fire and dry socks, clings to the 
 heart longer than anything else, and is oftener re- 
 called than many greater kindnesses. 
 
 So the Aughty comes to me whenever the winds 
 howl and the shutters clatter. I think we were all 
 happy in the Aughty, and certainly little Marion 
 gained in beauty and fearlessness every day. At first 
 it was sad to see her shrinking when any one moved 
 suddenly near her. But this also gradually ceased. 
 
 To this day I can hear the soft whish of the snow 
 against the flap of heather curtain, the roaring of the 
 wind above, the crackle of the heather roots and broom 
 branches on the fire. I can see the red loom of the 
 peats at the back — indeed all things precisely as they 
 were on these days of storm when the winds drifted 
 the snow for sixteen days, till in many of the hollows
 
 ALIEN AND OUTLAW. 387 
 
 the wreaths lay a hundred feet deep, and over half of 
 Scotland one sheep out of every two died — as well as 
 many men that were shepherds and wanderers. Once 
 we heard a great roar as though the mountains were 
 falling, and we all instinctively cowered and prayed 
 that the Destroying Angel might pass over our heads. 
 
 " That's a most michty hurl of stanes somewhere," 
 said Silver Sand. 
 
 " I wish the Star Hill bena comin' doon on our 
 heids," said I. But it was not the Star Hill. It was 
 further off, somewhere about the Hill of the Dun- 
 geon. 
 
 We waited for a long time, but we could hear no 
 more of it, and from the doorway we could only see 
 the great tide of snow-flakes running steadily up the 
 Dungeon o' Buchan far below, and occasional swirls 
 entering into the sheltered bend in which the mouth 
 of the Aughty lay. The snow was not falling now, 
 but blowing uninterruptedly north with the mighty 
 wind, as level as ruled lines on a copybook. 
 
 So we let fall the flap, after having taken Marion 
 to the door that she might wonder at the white driving 
 world of snow. 
 
 " I think I could float in it like a feather," she 
 said — a feeling which I had myself. 
 
 It is but little to read the gypsy's strange relations, 
 or for the matter of that to write them, in the bien 
 comfort of one's own dwelling ; but it was quite 
 other to hear them told in the slow, level voice of 
 Silver Sand himself, who was Johnny Faa, the bloody 
 persecutor and Cameronian gypsy — for such things 
 were never heard of before in broad Scotland. All 
 this, too, while the greatest storm of the century
 
 388 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 raved without, and the winds of the Sixteen Drifty 
 Days sped past outside like fiends that rode to the 
 yelling of the damned. 
 
 It was comfortable too at meal-times to hear the 
 bacon skirling in the pan, and smell the canty smell of 
 the oatmeal fried among it. Sometimes Quharrie would 
 rise from one side of the fireplace and walk solemnly 
 round to the other, whither Marion would presently 
 follow him, and lie down beside him with her head 
 on his mighty flank. Then he would lift his head 
 and look at her like a great benignant wolf (the first 
 of that race) ; and because he loved her down in his 
 rough-husked heart somewhere, he licked her on the 
 point of her nose, which seemed to turn up a little on 
 purpose. 
 
 Then at night it was pleasant to draw about the 
 fire while Silver Sand read out of his book — often 
 from John's Gospel, oftenest from the Apocalypse, 
 which somehow appealed strongly to him. Then all 
 kneeling upon the hearth, he poured out his soul in 
 prayer — such a prayer as he had heard from Renwick 
 and Shields in the last days of the sufferings when 
 John Faa was yet on his probation. He would often 
 fleech on me to take part in the exercises, but though 
 my heart was very much attuned to do it, I never 
 could come at the performance of it till I was in a 
 house of my own.
 
 CHAPTER XLVI. 
 
 THE BROWNIE. 
 
 " Ye want to hear mair aboot the Brownie ? " said 
 Silver Sand. " Aweel, ye are gye far ben wi' me, an' 
 I'm gettin' ower auld to play sic tricks an' pliskies. 
 Ye think, nae doot, that my life hasna been a verra 
 usefu' life. I am o' a different opeenion." 
 
 I had no such thought, and'said so. 
 
 " Aweel, ye mind the year afore last. Wha was't, 
 do ye think, that cut an' stookit the feck o' the Max- 
 well's corn in the short days so far in the year, when 
 the lads had to gang awa' to the Isle o' Man for the 
 first cargo for my Lord Stair ? " 
 
 " I heard some word o' its bein' the fairies," said I. 
 
 " And there ye show your penetration, Paitrick, 
 but maybes ye didna discern, you that was so far- 
 seein', that it was Silver Sand wi' his bit scythe an' 
 his lang shauchelt airms. An' wha was't that gathered 
 a' yer sheep intil the buchts the nicht afore the great 
 storm o' February-was-a-year ? " 
 
 " I aye jaloosed it was the Maxwells, but they never 
 wad own wi't, but I thocht little o' that, for Kennedy 
 thinks no more o' tellin' a whud (lie) than o' slappin' 
 a cleg that nips him on the hench bane." 
 
 389
 
 39° THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " That he disna ! " said Silver Sand, with conviction. 
 
 " But," he continued, " he tell'd the truth that 
 time by accident whatever, for it was juist me an' 
 Quharrie that buchtit the Rathan yowes, an' the 
 neist nicht dippit them, rubbin' tar an' butter amang 
 the oo' to male' it grow flossy an' lang." 
 
 And Silver Sand went on to tell us of nights out on 
 the fells and in the green parks about the farm-towns. 
 How he delved the old wives' kail-yards, as he said, 
 for the pleasure of going round the next morning to 
 hear their wonderings. 
 
 " c Ye'll no be wantin' ony sand for yer heuk, 
 Betty ? " he would say to some old dame at her 
 cottage door. 
 
 " Na, no the day, Silver Sand," says Betty. 
 
 " Ony news, Betty ? " he would say. 
 
 " News ! " quo' she—" News ! What think ye o' 
 the gentle people bein' in my garden yestreen, nae 
 farder gane, an' left it a' delved, an' no as muckle as 
 the dent o' their feet ! " 
 
 " And that," said Silver Sand, " was likely, seeing 
 the trouble I was at to tak' the footmarks oot wi' an 
 iron-teethed rake." 
 
 " It's maist wonderful indeed, Betty ; but what wad 
 Maister Forbes, honest man, say to yer hae'in' sic 
 dealin's wi' the fairies ? Think ye that's canny, 
 Betty, my woman ? " 
 
 " Canny here, canny there, as lang as I get my 
 garden delved an' my tawties howkit for nocht, I'se 
 seek nae Maister Forbes ! Maister Forbes, indeed ! 
 it wad be a lang time or ever he howkit a dreel o' my 
 tawties. He's fitter at eatin' them, great fushionless 
 hoshen that he is ! ' "
 
 THE BROWNIE. 391 
 
 Thus Silver Sand carried us over the storm with 
 wealth of tales. I listened eagerly, my toes cocked 
 to the comfortable fire on the hearthstone (for there 
 was a good hearthstone in the Aughty), and one ear 
 bent to the outer moil of the storm as I nestled down 
 with my right and left side time about to the fire. 
 
 " Then," continued the story-teller, " there were 
 nichts on the corn rigs when the shearin' was at 
 its height, and the farms lay sleepin' under the cool, 
 clean air — nichts when it was juist heaven to work 
 amang the sheaves, and hear the crap, crap ! of the 
 short-bladed reaping-hook driving through the corn. 
 Every sheaf was like a friend. Every stook added 
 another to the weel-buskit army that made glad the 
 heart and exercised the brain of the bit farmer body, 
 when he cam' oot in the mornin' an' gaed dodderin' 
 aboot the oothooses, an' syne cam' dawnerin' doon the 
 field to plan the wark for the day. 
 
 " c Hi, Rab ! ' he would cry to the cotman, as he 
 saw my handiwork, c come ye here.' 
 
 " Then Rab would come oot, dichting his neb frae 
 the byre, belike whaur he had been preein' the sweet 
 milk-can, or else the moo' o' the byre lass, wha kens — 
 gye sheepish and shamefaced whatever. 
 
 " i Rab ! d'ye see that ? ' his maister wad say (me up 
 in the muckle tree a' the time). 
 
 " Rab looks. Rab better looks. The fashion of 
 his countenance changes. 
 
 " ' The Lord preserve's,' he cries, as he catches sicht 
 o' a dizzen mair rigs cut, past the mark whaur he had 
 finished at the gloamin' o' the nicht afore — i the mid- 
 nicht fairies hae been here. I'se gang hame. I'se no 
 work wi' Broonie.'
 
 392 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " c Ye muckle nowt,' says his master, c be thankfu' 
 that Broonie thinks so weel o' the place as to work on 
 it. A licht heart an' an untired leg has the lads aboot 
 the bit whaur Broonie works. Heartsome be his meal 
 o' meat, puir falla' ! ' 
 
 " So the neist day at e'en there's a basin o' parritch 
 an' a great bowl o' milk set oot at the barn-end. Then 
 I tak' my great sheepskin coat aboot me, that keeps 
 me warm on the cauldest nicht in a hedge-root, if need 
 be, an' up the loanin' I gang my ways. There'll be 
 some muckle gomerel o' a half-grown loon that wants 
 to get credit wi' the lasses. He's watchin' for Broonie. 
 I can hear his knees playin' knoit thegether at the back 
 o' the hedge. 
 
 " ' Boo-hoo ! ' says I, billying like a bullock. 
 
 " Up gets Hobbledehoy, an' rins wi' skelloch on 
 rairin' skelloch to the farmhoose, where the lasses are 
 biggit in threes about the back o' the door, fair wat 
 wi' fear. 
 
 " ' Never was there sic a thing ! ' Gomerel threeps. 
 He has seen Broonie. He can describe him. He is 
 as big as the barn, an' beltit wi' a curly hide. He has 
 horns as lang as my leg. Then on the morn whatna 
 bizz there is in a' the kintraside. Frae far an' near 
 they come to hear Rob Gomerel tell aboot the Broonie 
 that billied at him in the hedge. Rab tells the tale, 
 and tells it ower again. An' every time he tells it 
 there's twa yairds on till the length o' the beast, an' at 
 least yin to the horns. It's a fearsome beast afore a's 
 dune." 
 
 Silver Sand laughed his silent chuckling laugh, and 
 went on. 
 
 " Then there are the trysts o' the lasses an' the
 
 THE BROWNIE. 393 
 
 lads. There was an ill speldron o' a loon that had 
 mistrysted wi' twa lasses already, an' he cam' to the 
 kirk-stile to speak to wee Margaret Lauder that is 
 as innocent as a lamb. I saw the colour come an' 
 gang, an' the bit heart loup. And my bauld birkie 
 saw it too, for he eined wi' the denty wee lass to meet 
 him at the Myrestane black-yetts at the back o' the 
 wood. But he never gat there to this day. Brownie 
 met him as he cam' steppin' sae gawsy across the dry 
 stanes at Sandy's Ford. There Brownie stood an' 
 shook his horns at the great scoundrel frae side to side 
 like a govin' beast, wi' a kind o' elricht yammer that 
 near feared mysel' as I made it. 
 
 " Flat doon fell the speldron, for ill-doers are a' ill- 
 dreaders. Syne Broonie comin' a wee nearer, he gat 
 him on his feet an' ran hame to his stable-laft wi' the 
 cauld ice water drappin' aff him. 
 
 " Then wha but Silver Sand an' no Broonie ava' saw 
 hame the bit lass to her mither, an' took the chance 
 o' reddin' up the loon's character on the road. Fse 
 warrant he gets a flea in his lug the neist time he 
 gangs to yon toon ! " said Silver Sand, triumphantly. 
 
 " Dod, man, Silver Sand, but that was guid ! " cried 
 I, hitting my thigh in my delight. For he made us 
 see the whole business by his manner of telling it. 
 
 "But there's better than that," says he, blinkin' 
 kindly at me across the red glow of the Aughty fire. 
 
 " Mony is the time," he went on, " in the auld days 
 when Craigdarroch ingle-cheek lowed bonny, an' the 
 lads o' the countryside forgathered in the gloamin', 
 I hae played bogle there an' seen strange things. 
 There was a lass (Fse no tell ye her name, so dinna 
 ask) that I hae seen wi' thae^e'en o' mine, comin'
 
 
 394 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 slippin' sae denty to the door, an' gaun doon by the 
 soughin' grey willows that turned their white under- 
 sides to look at her in the gloom of the gloamin' 
 as she gaed by the three thorns, hastening as though 
 she were gangin' to a love tryst." 
 
 I began to understand, yet I so loved my lass that I 
 had no fear of what I might hear from this recording 
 angel of the night and the fields. 
 
 " An' wha, think ye, cam' to see her — this bonny 
 lass that left the braw wooers ahint, speakin' about the 
 nowt to her daddy ? " 
 
 I shook my head. 
 
 " She stood by the side o' the Solway, wi' the tide 
 washin' up to her feet, and she lookit ower at the 
 auld Hoose o' Rathan, where there was a licht at the 
 high window, and whiles a bit fire doon on the shore. 
 That was the camp o' Silver Sand. Maybe it was at 
 the camp she lookit, an' maybe it was for the sake o' 
 Silver Sand that she gaed doon there by hersel' — an' 
 maybe no ! 
 
 " At ony gate it wasna juist the safest to be gaun 
 there, wi' Freetraders an' Yawkins an' sic like cattle 
 aboot ; so Quharrie an' me we made it our business 
 like to see that she wasna disturbit. 
 
 "But whatna cuif was the lad she likit to bide in 
 the Rathan when the bonniest lass in the country- 
 side cam' doon to keep tryst wi' nocht but the bit 
 fardin' candle in the Hoose o' Rathan ? " 
 
 "But I never jaloosed — hoo was I to ken ? " I say, 
 for I am indeed ashamed. 
 
 " Hoot awa', man ! Ye surely wore your e'en in 
 the tail o' your coat ! Ye micht hae kenned by the 
 way she flyted (scolded) on ye ! "
 
 THE BROWNIE. 395 
 
 "O man, Silver Sand, ye should hae telled me," 
 says I. 
 
 " Na, na, Laird Rathan, Silver Sand is nae tale-pyet. 
 A bonny-like thing gin a young lass trusted me an' 
 the stars wi' the innocence o' her heart's chamber, an' 
 I should rin clashin' to a great hulk that hadna the 
 gumption to find the road in for himsel'." 
 
 Silver Sand shook his head at the thought, but I 
 took no offence for all the ill names he gave me. 
 Contrariwise, I was exceeding glad; because I wanted 
 to believe that her heart was mine before the night 
 of the Dungeon and the fight by the Murder Hole. 
 
 " There's yae thing mair," said he, " that for your 
 peace I may tell ye, though ye but little deserve it. 
 It was the day ye waur sae ill wi' the brain heat when 
 it turned to a raging fever, frae the cloor ye got up 
 by the Neldricken. The doctor that had been ridden 
 for to Dumfries, had gien ye up an' gaen awa' to 
 order your coffin, belike. It was waefu' to hear ye. 
 They say that they could hear the cryin' o' ye at the 
 Orraland through the open windows that terrible 
 nicht. 
 
 " Weel, man, I was there by the water edge, and 
 what think ye I saw ? I saw a bit lassie that had 
 been wearin' hersel' oot to help ye, come awa' oot 
 into the nicht air, an' afore I had time to rin, doon 
 she clapped on her knees close by me, an' by chance 
 (because I couldna help it) I heard the prayer for you 
 she thocht only the Almichty listened to. She prayed 
 lang and sair for ye, Paitrick, my lad. Ye ill deserve 
 the like o' her. She asked that the Lord micht tak' 
 her an' leave ye a wee bit langer, ' for he's but young,' 
 she said, c an' hasna had time to bethink himsel'.' "
 
 39 6 
 
 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 " The God of Jacob bless her ! " I said, solemnly, 
 for I could hardly speak. And small wonder. 
 
 Silver Sand said " Amen ! " 
 
 But a thought struck me. 
 
 " An' what," I said, " micht ye be doin' doon by 
 the shore at that time o' nicht ? Were you no at 
 the prayin' too ? " 
 
 " O," said Silver Sand, lightly, <c I was juist throwin' 
 chuckie-stanes in the water ! " 

 
 CHAPTER XLVII. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE OUTLAWS. 
 
 On the morning of the seventeenth day, when we 
 were becoming anxious for those whose anxiety for us 
 we dared not think upon, we looked out, and lo ! the 
 great blast — the greatest of a century — had blown 
 itself out. We gazed abroad on the face of the world, 
 and the sight made us both fear and quake, and that 
 exceedingly. 
 
 It was a clear, bright morning when we put aside 
 the mat and looked out. The brightness was like the 
 kingdom of heaven. There was a chill thin air 
 blowing, and the snow was already hard bound with 
 frost. We looked down into the Dungeon of Buchan. 
 Its mighty cauldron that had the three lochs at the 
 bottom, was nearly full of snow. The lochs were not. 
 The Wolf's Slock was not. The night before we 
 had only seen a whirling chaos of hurrying flakes of 
 infinite deepness. The morning showed us the great 
 valley almost levelled up with snow, from Breesha and 
 the Snibe to the Range of Kells. 
 
 We stepped from the door upon the first wreath. 
 It rose in a grand sweep which curved round the angle 
 of the hill. We set foot on it, and it was strong 
 
 397
 
 398 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 enough to bear us. So closely had the particles been 
 driven by the force of the wind, that as soon as the 
 pressure was taken off, the frost bound the whole mass 
 together firm as ice and smooth as ivory. 
 
 Then as we stood on the top there was a wonderful 
 sight to be seen. A wide world of wreathed snow. 
 There was no Loch Enoch to be discerned. The 
 dazzling curve of the blown snow ran clear up the 
 side of the great Merrick Hill. There was no 
 Loch-in-loch. There was no Outlaws' Island. The 
 same frost-bound whiteness had covered all. The old 
 world was drowned in snow and there was no Bow of 
 Promise to be seen. Perhaps because we had offered 
 no sacrifice. 
 
 " God help them that are under that ! " said Silver 
 Sand. 
 
 But indeed we saw at a glance that all who had been 
 without rooftree during the great storm were long 
 past our help. 
 
 Only on the Dungeon Hill opposite, under the 
 hanging brow of Craignaimy there was a great pit 
 mark like a stone quarry, in colour red and grey — the 
 granite showing its unhealed edges, set about with 
 the white snow. This landslip we had not seen 
 before. 
 
 Bidding Marion abide in the Aughty till we re- 
 turned, we set out to explore. We bound kerchiefs 
 about our brogues to keep the loose particles from bal- 
 ling ; but, both of us being light on our feet, we sank 
 only a very inconsiderable way. And Quharrie did not 
 sink at all, but lightly passed over, and so went before. 
 He was a thoughtful but not a morose dog. Only 
 this morning the snow seemed to get into his sedate
 
 THE LAST OF THE OUTLAWS. 399 
 
 brain, and he whirled about after the stump of a tail 
 so short, that as he turned, he only saw it rounding 
 the uttermost curve of a very far away turn. A stern 
 chase in his case, was not only a long one but a 
 perfectly hopeless one. Yet he spun round never- 
 theless. He overturned himself in the snow. He 
 slid on his back down the great snow wreaths — in fact 
 did everything except bark. Then suddenly he took 
 himself up, as one may see a dignified baillie or 
 magistrate surprised in a game of romps, look about 
 to see whether any one has observed him, and then 
 walk off* with an air as though he were mightily 
 surprised at the lightness of the walk and conver- 
 sation of the man next to him. So Ouharrie on the 
 great snow wreaths that filled up the valley of the 
 Star Hill. 
 
 Before going out we looked to our arms, although 
 Silver Sand sighed and said, " 1 misdoot me that all 
 the arms we shall need the day are picks and shovels." 
 
 The wreaths of the snow were bewildering and of 
 exquisite beauty, rosy where the sun touched them — 
 a pale faint blue in the shadow, and with such a 
 delicious play of wavering light where the sun and 
 shade met that it was like the sun shining through 
 deep leaves and throbbing in the clearness of a shaded 
 mountain pool. 
 
 As we went we sounded each step with our great 
 poles tipped with iron. Silver Sand went foremost, 
 because I knew but little about snow ; for by the sea 
 edge of Solway it lies but seldom and that never deep. 
 Sometimes we set foot on a snow bridge between two 
 stones — so fell in and had to pull one another out. 
 Sometimes we would start a rush of snow sliding
 
 400 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 downhill, which always made Silver Sand very grave, 
 knowing the danger of it. 
 
 First we went towards the Isle of Enoch, from 
 which we had set out the night we came to the 
 Aughty. So level was the buried loch that it was 
 only by very carefully observing the landmarks that 
 we could tell when the frozen water lay beneath us. 
 But the side of the Merrick above us was clear in 
 patches, where it rises too steeply to hold the snow. 
 
 Soon we came to where we thought the Isle of 
 Loch-in-loch to lie, but nothing told us that any 
 abodes of human beings could be beneath. Looking 
 westward to the side of the Merrick from the highest 
 part of the snow, we saw what seemed to be an ex- 
 cavation of an oval form. 
 
 " There ! " said Silver Sand, pointing with his iron- 
 shod « kent." 
 
 So he went upward and I followed him, till we 
 came to the edge. I shall never forget what I saw, 
 though I must hasten to tell it briefly. It was a 
 great pit in the snow, nearly circular, built up high 
 on all sides, but specially towards the south. The 
 lower tiers of it were constructed of the dead bodies 
 of a great multitude of sheep piled one on top of the 
 other, forming frozen fleecy ramparts. But the snow 
 had swept over and blown in, so that there was a way 
 down to the bottom by walking along the edge of a 
 wreath. Looking in, we saw protruding from the 
 snow — here the arm of a man and there the horn of a 
 bullock. 
 
 I understood at once. We were standing above 
 the white grave of the outlaws of the Dungeon. 
 They had died in their hillside shelter. With our
 
 THE LAST OF THE OUTLAWS. 401 
 
 " kents " we could do little to unbury them, and give 
 them permanent sepulture. It was better that they 
 should lie till the snow melted off the hill. But we 
 uncovered many of the faces, for so much of the work 
 was not difficult. As each white frozen face came in 
 view Silver Sand said briefly, " Miller ! " or " Macate- 
 rick ! " or " Marshall ! " as soon as he looked upon 
 them. 
 
 But there were no Faas among them. 
 
 " The Faas have done my bidding," he said, " and 
 they have at least a chance for their lives." 
 
 Quharrie marked the spots where the dead were to 
 be found by digging with his forepaws, throwing the 
 snow through the wide space between his hind legs, 
 and blowing through his nose as a terrier does at a 
 rabbit hole. 
 
 But we found seventeen and no more, all under the 
 great south wall of sheep, which the starving wretches 
 had built to keep them from the icy bensil of the snow 
 wind. I wondered why they had not abode in their 
 little cots and clay biggings ; but Silver Sand said that 
 to gather into great camps with their cattle, and 
 collect materials for a vast fire in the midst was ever 
 their custom in time of storm. But the Sixteen 
 Drifty Days had been too much for them. 
 
 It was a mighty storm, and the like has never been 
 seen in Galloway to this day. Afterwards when men 
 came to bury the dead, they found good proof that 
 they had warred it out till the tenth day, when their 
 food and their fire alike gave out. Then here and 
 there they had laid them down to sleep, and so 
 awoke no more. Thus we found them, and thus, 
 poor wretches, we left them. 
 
 26
 
 402 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 They looked strangely happy, for the whiteness of 
 the snow set their faces as in a frame. I saw the 
 rascal that would have killed me in the cot of 
 Craignairny. He looked quite a respectable man. 
 Which made me think that some ill devil had, 
 mayhap, long hirsled and harried an innocent body 
 against its will. So may it be. The good God 
 knows. The Day of Judgment is not my business. 
 
 Then we went towards the House of Craignairny 
 itself. But when we got there we found not the 
 house, and we found not the landmarks. The great 
 gash on the Dungeon brow, which we had seen 
 from the Aughty, had been made by an inconceivable 
 quantity of rock, which had fallen, crushing its way 
 down the hillside and followed by a multitude of 
 smaller stones mixed with snow. The lirk of the 
 hill in which the ill-omened House of Death once 
 stood, was covered fathoms deep in rock, as though 
 the very mountain had hanged itself, Judas-like, so 
 that all its bowels gushed out. Thus was the sur- 
 prising judgment of God made plain and manifest. 
 It was the roar of that great downthrow which we 
 had heard when we were in the Aughty, and 
 thought that the Star Hill was about to fall upon 
 our heads. 
 
 No man ever saw hilt or hair of Eggface or her 
 sons, nor of any that had been seen in that ill house, 
 save only the man that would have knifed me, whom 
 I saw in the great Pit of Sheep under the lee of the 
 Merrick. The place is now all overgrown with 
 heather and the brown bent grass ; but it is still 
 plain to be seen, and the shepherds call it the Land- 
 fall of Craignairny. They say that no- sheep'; will
 
 THE LAST OF THE OUTLAWS. 403 
 
 feed there to this day, but I know not the truth of 
 that. 
 
 We had, however, seen enough. So we went back 
 to the Aughty till night, for the sun was rendering 
 the snow too soft even on that keen December day to 
 make travelling easy.
 
 
 CHAPTER XLVIII. 
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR ONCE MORE. 
 
 After taking council together we decided that we 
 should wait till the night fell and the young moon 
 rose. Then when the frost had bound the snow 
 we should march. We found Marion very content, 
 playing with a doll which she had made out of a 
 piece of wood and some rags which lay in a corner. 
 It was quaint to watch her hushing it to sleep. 
 
 Silver Sand spent the most part of that day in 
 putting the Aughty to rights, stacking what of the 
 fuel was not yet consumed, and making the abode as 
 habitable and tidy as when we entered it. "Other- 
 wise," he said, " I should have no heart in coming 
 back to it." 
 
 It was nearly six in the evening before we started 
 upon our way. Silver Sand said that we would go by 
 the Wolf's Slock and the Links of the Cooran, but I 
 liked not the name of either. 
 
 " The Wolf's Slock is a made coach road the 
 nicht," he said. But till we came to the edge of 
 it, I knew not what he meant ; then I saw and 
 understood. 
 
 The gale from the south had swept the snow into 
 
 404
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR ONCE MORE. 405 
 
 the wide Wolf's Throat of Buchan, and from top to 
 bottom all those many hundreds of feet a smooth and 
 equal slope extended, most beautiful to see in the 
 faint moonlight which glinted and sifted into it from 
 the east. We had little Marion with us, carrying her 
 most of the way, but letting her run at other times 
 when it was level and there was good going for the feet. 
 
 Yet I sighed and was afraid, for I knew not how 
 we were to win down that great precipice, taking the 
 bairn with us. But my companion soon showed me 
 how little I knew about the matter. He let me see 
 a trick the outlaws used in the times of snow among- 
 the hills. 
 
 Silver Sand took a rope from his shoulder and 
 bound it round my middle — afterwards about his 
 own. Then he took out his great red kerchief 
 and spread it on the snow. Whereupon he sat down 
 on it with the corner fastened to his hempen waist- 
 band. He bade me to do the like, with my legs 
 forked on either side of him. Between us he set 
 little Marion, telling her to fasten her hands in his belt 
 and hold tight. Then, with my arms one on either 
 side of her and clasping Silver Sand, we softly slid 
 over the edge. It was a wild ride in the moonlight 
 — slow at first, then quickening with a rush. The 
 snow streamed on either side of us, driving past with 
 a whish like the spray from a boat's nose when she 
 has much sea-way. There was a strange feeling 
 somewhere low down within me as if I had left all 
 my vital parts sticking to the snow where we set 
 out, and I feared that I might be inconvenienced for 
 the lack of them when we stopped. But withal 
 there was a wild exhilaration j so that when we
 
 4-o6 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 were but half-way down little Marion laughed out 
 a rippling, girlish laugh which did us good to hear. 
 We slid almost instantly down the steep place and 
 glided out upon the long, sweeping, downward curve, 
 beneath which the Cooran lane lay buried. At last, 
 far out on the plain, we stopped, and Silver Sand stood 
 up and shook himself. 
 
 "What think ye o' that, you that's a shoreman 
 and kens everything ? " he said, with a calmness that 
 struck me with fresh admiration, as he dusted the 
 snow from about little Marion and then from his 
 own legs. 
 
 That was the end of all worth writing; about — at 
 least, all that I have room to write of in this place ; 
 for the carrier has forgotten to fetch me my new 
 supply of paper to the Orraland, and I have been 
 writing for the last twenty pages on empty sugar- 
 bags ; but my wife is losing patience, for she keeps 
 her garden seeds in them. 
 
 But indeed there is little more to say. 
 
 We got horses at the Clattering Shaws, and when we 
 reached the Great House of Earlstoun it was gloam- 
 ing of the next day. I hope never to be so tired 
 again till I lie down and die. It was, by the marvel- 
 lous providence of God, Eppie Tamson and not my 
 May Maxwell that opened the door to us. Her sister 
 Jen was over at the Rathan, where her tongue could 
 keep the joiners and masons in better order. There 
 is always a wild set of such men about Dumfries. 
 Once they put out a legend on a shop door in 
 Maxwelltown : " Coorse meal for Dumfries masons." 
 Whereat the masons crossed Devorgill's bridge and 
 broke many windows.
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR ONCE MORE. 407 
 
 I had little Marion in my arms at the time when 
 Eppie opened the door, and I had thought it a mighty 
 fine thing just to hand her into Eppie's arms ; but 
 Silver Sand thrust me back with his strong elbow, 
 setting it so suddenly in my wind that I had enough 
 to do only to gasp and recover myself. 
 
 " Eppie," he said, " be verra quiet. Can ye break 
 the news to May — Paitrick's bit lassie here ? ,: 
 
 " Aye," said Eppie ; " are ye risen frae the deed ? ' : 
 
 " Safe an' soond," said Silver Sand ; " no a ghaist 
 amang us." 
 
 " Come ben ! " says she. 
 
 " Is Sammle in, Eppie ? " says he, in a whisper. 
 
 " He's in the kitchen wi' Kennedy an' a' the 
 Maxwell loons." 
 
 " Is he weel ? Can ye tak' some news to him ? 
 D'ye think he can bear it ? " said Silver Sand, 
 cunningly. 
 
 " What is't ? " cried Eppie, gripping him by the 
 lapels of his coat and shaking him so that Silver Sand 
 vows that she hurt him. But not grievously, I think. 
 
 " 77;/j / " said I, stepping past him and putting 
 Marion into Eppie's arms, sound asleep, just as we 
 had taken her from before Silver Sand on the horse. 
 
 " Hush, woman ; dinna wakken' her ! " said I, 
 holding up my finger. 
 
 Eppie gave me a look of mingled adoration and 
 scorn. I had brought back her life to her — but that 
 1 should think that she would waken her treasure ! 
 
 Silver Sand afterwards said that it was one of the 
 happiest inspirations of my life. 
 
 I wanted much to ask concerning May and where 
 she was j but, of course, there was so much fuss made
 
 4°8 THE RAIDERS. 
 
 about the bairn that I had to go and look for her 
 myself. 
 
 I went up to the great room in the tower which 
 the Lady Grizel made so comfortable in the winter 
 months. I knocked very gently. The strong voice 
 of My Lady bade me enter. I came into the bright 
 glow of the great wood fire. 
 
 The old lady threw up her hands. "The Lord 
 preserve us, Paitrick ! " she said. 
 
 She rose from the chair and came towards me. 
 She took my hand, and I declare but she kissed both 
 it and me, though she was an Earl's daughter. Then 
 she minded something, seeing me look around. 
 
 "Aye, laddie," she said, "what am I thinkin' on — 
 ye hae nae use for auld wives like me." 
 
 She stepped to the foot of the stair that went up 
 the tower. " May ! " she cried, quickly. 
 
 There was a stirring above, and then a light foot 
 on the stair which made my pulses dance. Lady 
 Grizel slipped out, shutting the outer door with a 
 clang so that I might know that she had gone. She 
 was ever a considerate woman — few like her. 
 
 The stair door opened, and the flicker of the fire 
 shone on a fair lassie, pale as the lily flower is pale, 
 who stood framed against the darkness of the turret. 
 
 I held out my arms towards her. " May ! " I cried, 
 even as the Lady Grizel had done, but in another 
 fashion. 
 
 She put her hand to her breast and came toward 
 me slowly, as though dazed and uncertain for two or 
 three steps. Then suddenly crying out, and the light 
 fairly leaping in her eyes, she broke and ran to me. 
 So I gathered my love within my arms.
 
 
 THE EARL'S GREAT CHAIR ONCE MORE. 409 
 
 And now a " Fair-guid-e'en " to you all that have 
 come so far with us. There is no more that I have 
 to say, and no more that you need to hear. Mistress 
 May Mischief and I love you for your kind courtesy, 
 and we pray you that, like the dear Lady Grizel, you 
 will take the door with you as far as it will go, and 
 leave us thus in the firelight, with only the Earl's 
 great chair for company. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 By the mercy of God this account of our many trials 
 and their happy end is finished at our house of the 
 Rathan, on the first day of Aprile, 17 — , being the 
 second anniversary of the birth of my son "John Fa a 
 Heron, my daughter Grizel Maxwell being now in her 
 seventh year, and my dear wife entering her thirty- 
 third — but, as I think, bonnier than ever.
 
 The Stickit Minister, 
 
 AND SOME COMMON MEN. 
 By S. R. CROCKETT. 
 
 SIXTH EDITION. CLOTH EXTRA S] 
 
 Some Press Opinions. 
 
 THE SPEAKER. 
 
 " Mr. Crockett has given us a book that is full of strength and 
 charms. Humour and pathos mingle with delightful effect. . . . 
 It is hard to imagine that any lover of literature could be altogether 
 wanting in appreciation of their quaint homeliness and pleasant 
 realism. To come across a volume like this is indeed refreshing. 
 No wailing pessimism mars our enjoyment with its dreary disbelief 
 in humanity ; every page exhibits a robust faith in the higher 
 possibilities of our nature, and the result is distinctly successful. 
 Amongst the gems of the collection we may indicate ' The Heather 
 Lintie,' a simple sketch, instinct with quiet penetrating pathos ; 
 whilst as a specimen of acute and kindly humour, 'A Knight- Errant 
 of the Streets,' with its sequel, 'The Progress of Cleg Kelly,' would 
 be hard to surpass. . . . The author has constructed stories full of 
 grace and charm. Those to whom humanity in its most primitive 
 and least complex aspect is interesting will find real pleasure in 
 studying Mr. Crockett's strong and sympathetic presentment of 
 Scottish peasant life."
 
 The Stickit Minister. 
 
 THE SATURDAY REVIEW. 
 
 " Racy of the soil, told with a masterly command of dialect and 
 national characteristics, powerful, at times almost too powerful for 
 their tiny dimensions ; for in a tale of only a few pages it is 
 impossible to do full justice to the tremendous passions which 
 actuate some of Mr. Crockett's characters." 
 
 THE DAILY NEWS. 
 "The author is a man of keen observation and considerable 
 powers of description. These sketches will afford very enter- 
 taining reading." 
 
 THE DAILY TELEGRAPa 
 
 " Mr. Crockett shows himself a sufficiently capable narrator, with 
 some idea of humour and still more of pathos." 
 
 THE DAILY CHRONICLE. 
 " Excellent, with a somewhat exceptional kind of excellence— 
 ' by-ordinar' good.' Mr. Crockett's handling of the themes has a 
 vigour, a veracity, and a freshness—an artlessly artistic fidelity to 
 the homely truth of things, which gives his work the power to 
 arrest as well as the power to charm." 
 
 ATHENiEUM. 
 " Few readers will find the collection dull." 
 
 BRITISH WEEKLY. 
 " A book of extraordinary merit. It is a series of swift, bright 
 sketches, ... and they are done with such ease, spirit, and fidelity, 
 as to give Mr. Crockett a very high place among his fellow artists. 
 English readers may be assured that they will find this book enter- 
 taining and racy beyond almost any other of its kind." 
 
 GLASGOW HERALD. 
 
 Sl This is a pleasant book to dip into."
 
 The Stickit Minister. 
 
 GLASGOW MAIL. 
 
 " The Scottish sketches are, though slight in character, of high 
 literary merit. . . . They reproduce with photographic accuracy 
 certain phases of Scottish rural life which, under the influence of a 
 more cosmopolitan civilisation, are rapidly passing away. He is 
 most successful in humorous themes. No one acquainted with 
 Scottish rural life will fail to recognise the truthfulness of these 
 humorous presentations, alike as regards the mental attitude and 
 mode of expression common among our Scottish peasantry. ' The 
 Stickit Minister ' is a work of genuine ability, and will be warmly 
 cherished by all who love to dwell on the byways of Scottish 
 rural life." 
 
 DUNDEE ADVERTISER. 
 
 " Alike as a faithful record of life, as a literary performance, and 
 as a book to enjoy, ' The Stickit Minister ' is entitled to high 
 praise." 
 
 SCOTTISH LEADER. 
 
 " Eminently readable. . . . Are distinctly valuable as photo- 
 graphs of rustic thought and speech. They vividly reproduce the 
 manners and the language of the Scottish rustic and the country 
 clergy. There is not one of them but will be read with interest and 
 admiration." 
 
 GUARDIAN. 
 
 " The great charm of the book is its thorough and unaffected 
 naturalness ; it sparkles through its pages like a Scotch mountain 
 burn, in a perpetual change, sometimes in bright sunshine, some- 
 times in deep shadow, sometimes babbling merrily over shadows, 
 sometimes lying silently in deep dark pools, but always fresh and 
 clear and pleasant, and running its own course according to its own 
 sweet will."
 
 The SHckit Minister. 
 
 LITERARY WORLD. 
 
 " Mr. Crockett's is a new name in literature, but it has come to 
 stay. He has the making of a great writer in him — fire, pathos, 
 humour, wide sympathies, keen insight into character, a touch at 
 once light and masterly, and a style nervous and flexible." 
 
 TRUTH. 
 
 "A series of striking papers." 
 
 THE BOOKMAN. 
 
 *' All are vigorously written ; indeed, where fault is to be found 
 it is rather on the ground that restraint than that force is wanting." 
 
 THE CHRISTIAN LEADER. 
 
 " There is breeziness as of the heather moors all through 
 this book ; in such atmosphere it is no wonder that there are 
 muscular vigour, swift strokes, and refined beauty both in words 
 and lives." 
 
 YORKSHIRE POST. 
 
 " It is not everybody who likes a book so thoroughly Scotch ; but 
 the humour, the pathos, and the actuality of the whole thing make 
 that of comparatively small importance," 
 
 THE WESTMINSTER GAZETTE. 
 " Mr. R. L. Stevenson's recent ' informal talk ' to the members of 
 the Scottish Thistle Club at Honolulu contained a touching reference 
 to Mr. S. R. Crockett's dedication to him of the ' Stickit Minister,' 
 a book which, he said, ' affected me strangely, so that I could not 
 read it without a gulp.' In a letter since received by a friend Mr. 
 Stevenson returns to the subject. ' The whole book,' he says, 
 ' breathes admirably of the soil. The ' Stickit Minister ' and the 
 ' Heather Lintie' are two that come near me particularly. They are 
 drowned in Scotland. They have refreshed me like a visit home I " 
 
 Londom ; T. FISHER UNWIN, Paternoster Square, E.C. 
 Glasgow : W. POLLOCK WYLIE, Christian Leader Office.
 
 €fce ©tenant Pre**, 
 
 UNWIN BROTHERS, 
 CHILWORTH AND LONDON.
 
 A LIST 
 
 OF 
 
 Mr. T. FISHER UNWIN'S 
 
 NEW PUBLICATIONS. 
 
 LORD TENNYSON AND HIS FRIENDS. 
 
 A Series of Twenty-Jive Portraits. With Essay by Mrs. Thackeray 
 Ritchie, and Introduction by H. H. Hay Cameron. 400 only 
 printed, of which 350 are for sale (150 of this number in America). 
 All copies numbered. Columbier folio, price £6 6s. nett. 
 
 Also, an Edition of the Proofs, on India paper, limited to 16 sets, 10 of 
 which are for sale, each copy numbered and signed. Prices on application. 
 
 " They form a really exquisite gallery, and probably surpass anything that has been 
 done in this sort before." — Black and While. 
 
 "A work as delightful to the art-lover as it will prove invaluable to the student 
 and literary historian." — Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " A most fascinating book, and a splendid possession for any one who has a copy 
 of it." —Saturday Revi 
 
 AMERICAN ILLUSTRATORS. 
 
 By F. Hopkixson Smith. Fifteen Plates, printed in Colour on Japan 
 paper, and 100 Sketches, Portraits and Drawings in the text. The text 
 is printed on heavy-coated paper. The cover is from a design by W. L. 
 Metcalf. In handsome portfolio, with etched design on cover, price 
 £2, 125. 6d. nett. 100 copies only for sale in England, each being numbered. 
 
 American illustrators occupy a distinguished place in the art world. In quality of 
 draughtsmanship they are unsurpassed, while in humour and vigour they stand alone. 
 Amongst the artists represented are E. A. Abbey, Frost, Remington, Gibson, Cox, etc , 
 and the plates are in colours, heliotype, albertype, photogravure, etc., while Mr. Smith's 
 critical article is lavishly illustrated by engravings.
 
 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
 THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF THEOBALD WOLFE 
 TONE: 
 
 A Chapter from Irish History, 1790- 1798. Edited, with an Introduction, 
 by R. Barry O'Brien, of the Middle Temple, Barrister-at-Law, 
 Author of " Fifty Years of Concessions to Ireland,'" " Thomas Drumtnond," 
 &*c. 2 vols., with Photogravure Frontispiece to each, 4 Steel-Plates, 
 and a Letter in facsimile. Royal 8vo, cloth, 32s. 
 
 The following letter was received by the editor from the Prime Minister: — Hawarden Castle, 
 Chester, Oct. 12. — My dear Sir, — I have received to-day the beautiful copy of your 
 edition of Wolfe Tone's life, which I imagine will open to the British public a mass of 
 interesting information hitherto practically shut out from their knowledge. I for one 
 have never been able to obtain a copy of what is known as the American edition of the 
 life. My means of reading are now much cut down from more than one cause, but I 
 have at once read your luminous introduction, and I am of opinion that in its score of 
 pages you convey more light on what is, perhaps, the most interesting period in Irish 
 history than is to be found in many volumes relating to it. You, I think, first gave a true 
 exposition of that most significant history of the Irish land question, and I congratulate 
 you on the new service you have now rendered to historic truth. — I remain, faithfull y 
 yours, W. E. Gladstone." 
 
 GREEK VASE PAINTINGS: Select Examples. 
 
 With an Introduction and Notes by J. E. Harrison and D. S. MacColl. 
 
 Size of the book, 18 by 14 inches, bound in strong cloth, price 315. 6d. 
 
 Also, a fine Edition on Japan Paper, limited to 30 copies, 10 of which contain 
 
 Coloured Plates. Prices on application. 
 
 Previous to the epoch of the Parthenon marbles, Greek vase painting was the 
 most exquisite of the arts. The human passions were portrayed in this manner with 
 unexampled grace and realism. The precious relics of this phase of art are however 
 scattered over the museums of England and the Continent, and the knowledge of them 
 is practically inaccessible to art-students. This difficulty will be obviated by the work 
 described above. It has been undertaken by ripe scholars — Miss Jane Harrison, the 
 well-known lecturer, and Mr. D. S. MacColl, the artist and art-critic, — and they have 
 secured reproductions of over 50 of the finest specimens of Vase Painting. 
 
 AMABEL: 
 
 A Military Romance. By Cathal Macguire. 3 vols., cloth, 315. 6d. 
 
 " A piece of clever and careful realism." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " A very dramatic story .... true, realistic, in no way coarse, and very capably 
 written. The background of country and barrack life is good."— Army and Navy Gazette. 
 
 MARKHAM HOWARD: 
 
 A Novel. By J. Heale. 3 vols., cloth, 31s. 6d. 
 
 This is a powerfully written novel, describing the career of an ultimately famous 
 musician. 
 
 BIANCA : 
 
 A Novel. By Mrs. Bagot Harte. 2 vols. Crown 8vo, cloth, 21s. 
 
 " The story has a distinct charm cf its own, the characterisation especially being 
 good."— Star. 
 
 " Some of the action is wholly unexpected— startling." — Literary World.
 
 New Publications, 1893 — 94. 
 
 MILLIARA: 
 
 An Australian Romance. By Noel Hope. 2 vols. Crown 8vo, cloth, 21s. 
 
 "There is a healthy freshness about its treatment which disarms criticism. . . . 
 The heroine [is] a delightful and artistic study." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 " There are scenes of happy humour, of pathos, of heroic action ; there is no lack of 
 various and stirring incidents ; and the tale is admirable from a literary and artistic 
 point of view." — Scotsman. 
 
 THE ROMANCE OF A COUNTRY: 
 
 A Masque. By M. A. Curtois, Author of " Jenny," " My Best Pupil;' 
 &>c. 2 vols. Crown 8vo, cloth, 21s. 
 
 " There is a good deal of Oriental imagery worked up in ' The Romance of a Country.' 
 Founded on the legends of a people who are influenced largely by faith in signs and 
 symbols, it shows how these are supposed to affect the destiny ot those brought under 
 their spell." — Scotsman 
 
 THE REVOLUTION AND THE EMPIRE: 
 
 Being the Memoir of Chancellor Pasqitier. In 3 vols. With Portraits. 
 Demy Svo, cloth, 16s. per vol. Vol. I., 17S9 to 1S10. 
 
 The Memoirs of Chancellor Pasquier, edited by the Due d'Audiffret-Pasquier and 
 translated by C. E. Roche, are the most important French publication of the day. 
 They are a narrative from the inside, with the comments of a particularly liberal and 
 broadminded stateman, who had peculiar opportunities for observing the events in 
 which he was himself an important actor during the most interesting period of modern 
 history — The Revolution, Consulate and Empire. His portraits of the leading figures 
 and pictures of the prominent events of this period have both graphic power and piquancy. 
 
 ANNIE BESANT: 
 
 An Autobiography. With Twelve Illustrations, three being PJwtogravttre 
 Portraits. Demy Svo, cloth, 16s. 
 
 Sincerest among iconoclasts is Mrs. Besant. Atheism and Theosophy are poles 
 asunder, but she has fearlessly made the journey in pursuit of Truth. Her life has been 
 brimful of excitement, and she tells her story with lucidity and verve, dwelling, as she 
 proceeds, on the interesting people she has known, from Bradlaugh to Blavatsky. 
 
 DAYS SPENT ON A DOGE'S FARM. 
 
 By Margaret Symonds. Photogravure Frontispiece and 50 other 
 Illustrations. Demy Svo, cloth, 125. 
 
 Contents. Preface— Introduction — Chapter i. Rise of the Pisanis and Purchase 
 of Vescovana — ii. The Making of the Doge's Farm — hi. First Impressions — iv. Second 
 Thoughts— v. May Wanderings — vi. In Early June — vii. The Melancholy of the Plain — 
 viii. Flowers of the Plain— ix. The Stables and the People— x. A Gromboolian 
 Serenade— xi. Old Houses in Gromboolia— xii. Fishing on the Lombard Plain - 
 xiii. The Festa of St. Antonio at Padua — xiv. The Harvest— xv. Gleaning - 
 xvi. Thrashing— xvii. A Day at Trissino — xviii. On the Banks of the Odige— xix. In 
 the Enganean Hills — xx. Last Days — Epilogue.
 
 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
 CATHARINE FURZE: 
 
 A Novel by Mark Rutherford. In 2 vols. Crown 8vo, 12s. 
 
 In " Catharine Furze " the author of " Mark Rutherford " has given us a pathetic 
 and interesting study of a modern woman. His great power of vividly tracing the 
 motives of actions, his keen analysis of small sins, and his humour in the portraiture of 
 common types, are as much in evidence as ever in this romance of middle class 
 life in a provincial town. 
 
 THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
 
 A Retrospect and a Forecast. By Thomas Alfred Spalding, LL.B., 
 Barrister-al-Laiv. Small demy 8vo, cloth, 10s. 6d. 
 
 This examination of the history, precedents, and powers of the House of Lords is, 
 of course, a work of permanent value to the student of governments ; but at the present 
 moment the subject is of the keenest, and should receive a large measure of popularity. 
 
 HANDBOOK OF ENGLISH CATHEDRALS. 
 
 By Mrs. Schuyler van Rennselaer. Fully Illustrated. Crown Svo. 
 cloth, 1 os. 6d. 
 
 " Mrs. Rennselaer's eminently popular ' Handbook of English Cathedrals' is repub- 
 lished by Mr. Fisher Unwin in one volume. It has been revised for the occasion by 
 the author, and is illustrated, as before, by Mr. Joseph Pennell's numerous drawings, 
 together with plans and diagrams." — Daily News. 
 
 THE LIFE OF EDWIN BOOTH. 
 
 By William Winter. In 1 vol. With Illustrations. Demy Svo, 
 cloth, 10s. 6d. 
 
 This biography, by one who is intimately acquainted with the inner life of the 
 American drama, is brimful of Booth personalia and piquant anecdote. Apart from the 
 historical significance in the name of " Booth," this actor had for a long time before his 
 death typified the American tragic stage to English playgoers, just as Jefferson typified 
 American comedy. 
 
 Conway & Goolibge's Climbers' (Suibes, 
 
 — IRew Dolumcs. 
 
 Edited by W. M. Conway and W. A. B. Coolidge. 321110, limp, cloth, 
 gilt lettered, with pocket, flap, and pencil, price 10s. each. 
 
 (6) THE ADULA ALPS OF 
 
 THE LEPONTINE 
 RANGE. 
 
 By W. A. B. Coolidge. 
 
 " Indispensable to the public to which 
 it appeals." — Westminster Gazette. 
 
 (7) THE MOUNTAINS OF 
 COGNE. 
 
 By Geo. Yeld and W. A. B. 
 Coolidge. With Map. 
 
 " The present volume is fully worthy 
 of its companions and predecessors, being 
 founded on the personal experience of its 
 very competent authors and on a thorough 
 study of the literature of the subject." 
 Times. 

 
 New Publications, 1893 — 94. 
 
 IN A CORNISH TOWNSHIP WITH OLD VOGUE FOLK. 
 
 By Dolly Pentreath. Photogravure Frontispiece and 18 other Illus- 
 trations by Percy B. Craft. Large crown Svo, cloth, ys. 6d. 
 
 This is a delightful book with a farmer in it who is Humour's own self. The 
 pictures are wonderfully apt, for they were drawn under the author's eye by a man who 
 knows Cornwall like a book. 
 
 RANDOM ROAMINGS IN TIME AND SPACE. 
 
 By Rev. Augustus Jessopp, D.D. Crown 8vo, ys. 6d. 
 
 Contents. Chapter i. Random Roaming — ii. Castle Acre — iii. Hill-Digging and 
 Magic — iv. A Fourteenth-Century Parson— v. A Rustic Retrospect. 1799 — vi. A 
 Scheme for Clergy Pensions — vii. Something about Village Almshouses. 
 
 SPINOZA'S ETHIC. 
 
 Translated into English by Amelia H. Stirling and W. Hale White. 
 Second Edition, revised and corrected, with New Preface. Demy 8vo, 
 cloth, 10s. 6d. 
 
 Mr. Hale White has contributed a new and able introduction to this standard 
 translation of Spinoza. The work is, as students are aware, an indispensable exposition 
 of the principles of abstract morality. 
 
 MORE ABOUT NAMES. 
 
 By Leopold Wagner, Author of " Names and their Meanings.'''' Large 
 crown 8vo, cloth, ys. 6d. 
 
 " A work of extraordinary interest." — Sun. 
 
 " A curious and interesting compilation." — School Board Chronicle. 
 
 TTbe Hbventure Series -mew 3$sue, 
 
 Each Illustrated. Large crown Svo, cloth, gold lettered, ys. 6d. 
 
 " A library that can be sincerely welcomed." — Globe. 
 
 " May be cordially recommended both to the student and the school-boy." — 
 Vanity Fair. 
 
 THE LIFE AND ADVEN- THE MEMOIRS AND 
 
 TURES OF JAMES P. 
 BECKWOURTH. 
 
 Mountaineer, Scout, Pioneer, and 
 Chief of the Crow Nation of 
 Indians. Written from his own 
 dictation by T. D. Bonner. 
 New Edition, Edited, and with 
 Preface, by Charles G. 
 Leland ( u HansBreitmai;n , 'J. 
 
 TRAVELS OF MAURI- 
 TIUS AUGUSTUS 
 COUNT DE BENYOW- 
 SKY 
 
 In Siberia, Kamtchaika, Japan, 
 the Linkiti Islands, and Formosa. 
 From the Translation of his 
 Original Manuscript (1741- 
 1771), by William Nichol- 
 son, F.R.S., 1790. Edited 
 Captain Pasfield Oliver, 
 K.A.
 
 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
 THE SUNNY DAYS OF YOUTH: 
 
 A Book for Boys and Young Men. By the Rev. E. J. Hardy, M.A., 
 Author of " Hoiv to be Happy though Married,'' '■'Manners Makyth 
 Man," etc. Sq. imp. i6mo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 Also, a fine Edition, elegantly bound, bevelled boards, gilt edges, js. 6d. 
 
 " At once edifying and attractive by pertinent anecdote and telling illustration. . . . 
 The writer is a cheery preacher of a cheery gospel, who . . . generally manages to hit 
 what he aims at." — Times. 
 
 THE TRAGEDY OF THE NORSE GODS. 
 
 By Ruth J. Pitt. Illustrated by G. P. Jacomb-Hood and J. A. J. 
 Brindley. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 " A connected narrative which will . . . give many who have never read them 
 before an idea of the great epics of the North, and, perhaps, tempt some few to study 
 more closely a religion which teaches the fundamental truths of all religions with 
 singular force and purity." — Daily Telegraph. 
 
 THE BROWNIES AT HOME. 
 
 By Palmer Cox. Medium <\to, cloth, 6s. 
 
 This is a new volume of the " Brownie " books. If possible, this is the best and 
 funniest. The Author's delightful pictures are a treat in themselves. 
 
 TO GIPSYLAND. 
 
 By Joseph and Elizabeth Robins Pennell. Illustrated by Joseph 
 
 Pennell. i2mo, cloth, 6s. 
 Beautifully illustrated and brightly written, this volume, like all that proceed from 
 the Pennells' pen, brings vividly before us the picturesque in nature and the delightful life 
 of Bohemians. Mrs. Pennell, from her relationship to that Prince of Gipsy-lorists, 
 Mr. C. G. Leland, has a peculiar authority to write on this subject. 
 
 SOME COUNTRY SIGHTS AND SOUNDS. 
 
 By Phil Robinson. Crown Svo, cloth, bevelled boards, gilt edges, 6s. 
 
 " Whatever he writes about he is uniformly quaint, original, and delightful, with 
 his keen power of observation, his strange quips, and his unexpected inversions." — 
 'Times. 
 
 JEANIE o' BIGGERSDALE, and other Yorkshire Stones. 
 
 By Katharine Simpson. With Preface by the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, 
 Canon of York and Vicar of Danby-in-Clev eland. Large crown Svo, 
 
 cloth, 6s. 
 " A group of vigorous stories. The breezy air of the heather-clad moors sweeps 
 through their pages. ... In the telling of them there is no striving after effect, but 
 a directness of narrative which scorns artifice." — Daily Chronicle. 
 
 LEAVES FROM THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF TOMMASO 
 SALVINI. 
 
 With eight Illustrations. Demy Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 Salvini, greatest of Italian tragedians, is a name to conjure with. Honesty and wit 
 walk hand in hand in this volume, v.hich is a mine of anecdote and incident.
 
 New Publications, 1S93 — 94. 
 
 BRIGHT CELESTIALS: 
 
 The Chinaman at Home and Abroad. By John Coming Chinaman. 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 While cast in the form of fiction, this "work, written from the Chinese point of 
 view, will be found to throw valuable light on a curious and much misunderstood 
 people. 
 
 THE HEBREW TWINS: 
 
 A Vindication of God's Ways with Jacob and Esau. By the late Rev. 
 Samuel Cox, ~D.T)., Author of "Expositions," &>c. With Prefatory 
 Memoir by his Wife. Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 A pathetic interest attaches to this last production of the pen of Dr. Cox. This 
 learned exposition of the Divine wisdom, as manifested in the story of Jacob and Esau, 
 is written with a charm which never fails to captivate the reader. 
 
 THE MARQUIS d'ARGENSON : 
 
 A Study in Criticism. Being the Stanhope Essay for 1893. By 
 Arthur Ogle, Exhibitioner of Magdalen College. 256 pages, crown 
 Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 "They are of opinion that the competition was unusually good." — Award of the 
 Examiners, Professor J. A. Froude, E. Armstrong, Esq., and A. Hassell, Esq., 
 May 8th, 1893. 
 
 A BOOK OF THOUGHTS, 
 
 Linked with Memories of the late John Bright. Selected and Edited by 
 Mary B. Curry. 24.W0, cloth, 6s. 
 
 John Bright's sound and classic tastes in literature are well remembered. Mrs. 
 Curry in this book has identified her choice with what her father's would have been. 
 There are readings given for every day in the year, and a more suitable gift-book cannot 
 well be imagined. 
 
 SWEET BELLS OUT OF TUNE. 
 
 By Mrs. Burton Harrison, Author of "The Anglo-maniacs" &*c. 
 Crown Svo, cloth, 6s. 
 
 This study of a honeymoon couple, gives an exceedingly clever picture of 
 fashionable American Society. There are touches of pathos which render its charm 
 superior to that of " The Anglo-maniacs." 
 
 BALCONY STORIES. 
 
 By Grace King, A uthorof" Tales of a Time and Place." With illustrations. 
 Crown Svo, 245 pages, cloth, 6s. 
 
 THE WHITE CAVE. 
 
 By William O. Stoddard, Author of "Crowded Out o' Crofield," etc. 
 Fully illustrated. Crown Svo, 253 pages, cloth, 6s.
 
 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
 THE QUEEN AT BALMORAL: 
 
 By Frank Pope Humphrey, Author of "A New England Cactus" &c. 
 12 full-page Illustrations, and a Photogravure. Large crown 8vo, cloth 
 
 gilt, 5*- 
 When Charles II. used to walk in St. James's Park the Sovereign was a familiar 
 enough figure. Now, royalty is more aloof from us, and, therefore, has an added 
 fascination. Mr. Humphrey gives us a graphic picture of the private life of the 
 Queen in Scotland. 
 
 THE BOY GOD: Troublesome and Vengeful. 
 
 An Ethical Romance. By E. M. Lynch. Illustrated. 121110, cloth, $s. 
 
 The girls of Camelot College used to arraign Cupid with wonderfully apt citations 
 in three languages, but he was revenged, and found husbands for most of them. It is a 
 bright little satire, with piquant illustrations. 
 
 RAYMOND'S FOLLY. 
 
 By B. Paul Neuman. Crown Svo, 5s. 
 
 The author of " The Interpreter's House " has, in " Raymond's Folly," pictured a 
 philanthropic scheme of great interest. All those who have followed the Toynbee Hall 
 movement will be fascinated by this tender and practical story. As to the general 
 acceptance of such books, Besant's creation in " All Sorts and Conditions of Men " is a 
 sufficing witness. 
 
 THE BUNNY STORIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 By John Howard Jewett. 78 Illustrations by Culmer Barnes. 
 Small \to, cloth, 5s. 
 
 All children love the Bunnies, and the funny little creatures have always been pets 
 of the fairy-lorist. This little book is just the thing for the town-children, to whom 
 the beautiiul homes where the Bunnies live are enchanted palaces. 
 
 THE TEMPLE: 
 
 Sacred Poems and Private Ejaculations by George Herbert. Fifth 
 Edition, with Introductory Essay by J. Henry Shorthouse, 
 being a facsimile reprint of the extremely scarce original edition of 1633. 
 Small crown 8vo, half-bound, old style, paper boards, 5s.; or, real sheep 
 sprinkled, red edges, 55. 
 " This charming reprint." — Academy. 
 
 " The style of Mr. Shorthou&e's dainty little preface is, we should say, nearly 
 perfect in its kind." — Spectator. 
 
 THE NEW EGYPT: 
 
 A Social Sketch. By Francis Adams, Author of " The Australians," S-c. 
 With an Introduction by J. W. Longsdon. Large crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
 
 Contents. Editor's Preface — Preface — Introduction. Part I. On the Surface — 
 i — Alexandria — ii. The Alexandrians — iii. Narrative — iv. Cairo — v. The Cairenes — vi. 
 Narrative— vii. The Nile— viii. The Nilots. Part II. The Earth Opens — i. Narrative — 
 ii. The Interview with Lord Cromer — iii. The Interview with the Khedive — iv. Narra- 
 tive — v. The Interview with Riaz Pasha — vi. The Interview wiih Tigrane Pasha — 
 vii. Narrative. Part III. The New Egypt — i. The Real Story of the Crisis — ii. The 
 Glory of England — iii. The Pledged Honour of England — iv. The Apology for Egypt. 
 Appendix — Extract from Blue Book.
 
 New Publications, 1893 — 94- 
 
 THE MERRY MONTH, and other Prose Pieces. 
 
 By Henry Bellyse Baildon, Author of '• The Spirit of Nature," &c. 
 8vo, cloth, $s. 
 
 " Let us do justice to so pleasant a paper as the ' Naming of June,' nor fail to utter 
 a word of thanks for 'Spring's Unpacking' and 'Flower Faces,' with their subtle 
 suggestiveness and delicate imaginative charm. There is also a generous ' Defence of 
 the Dog,' for which all friends of the most companiable, loyal, and sagacious four-footed 
 creature on earth ought to feel grateful. . . . Mr. Baildon is readable and entertaining." 
 — The Speaker. 
 
 SIDE LIGHTS. 
 
 By James Runciman, With Memoir by Grant Allen, and an Intro- 
 duction by W. T. Stead. Edited by John F. Runciman. Large 
 crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
 
 Contents. A Note on the Author, by Grant Allen — An Introductory Word about 
 the Book, by W. T. Stead — i. Letter-writers — ii. On writing oneself out — iii. The 
 Decline of Literature — iv. Colour-blindness in Literature — v. The Surfeit of Books — 
 vi People who are " down " — vii. Ill-assorted Marriages — viii. Happy Marriages — 
 ix. Shrews — x. Are we wealthy — xi. The values of Labour — xii. The Hopeless Poor — 
 xiii. Waifs and Strays — xiv. Stage-children— xv. Public and Private Morality; Past and 
 Present — xvi. " Raising the Level of Amusements "— xvii. A little Sermon on Failures 
 — xviii. "Vanity of Vanities" — xix. Gamblers — xx. Scoundrels — xxi. Quiet old towns — 
 xxii. The Sea — xxiii. Sorrow — xxiv. Death — xxv. Journalism. 
 
 " MADE IN FRANCE : " French Tales Retold, with a United 
 
 States Twist. 
 
 By H. C. Bunner, Author of " Short Sixes," " The Runaway Browns,'" 
 
 etc., etc. With illustrations by C. J. Taylor, Crown 8vo, cloth, 55. 
 
 The genial poet and editor of Puck (the Punch of America.) has hit on the idea of 
 making an artistic paraphase rather than a translation of ten of Guy de Maupassant's 
 brightest stories. The intention has been to impress the spirit of these stories on the 
 English letter which is the more warrantable since de Maupassant is well nigh untrans- 
 lateable. The artist's vignettes have the delicacy of drawings by Montegut. 
 
 THE STICKIT MINISTER, and Some Common Men. 
 
 By S. R. Crockett. Third Edition. 8vo, cloth extra, 55. 
 " Striking sketches of Scotch life and character."— Truth. 
 
 PERFECT FREEDOM. 
 
 Addresses by Phillips Brooks, with an Introduction by Rev. Julius H. 
 Ward, and an Etched Portrait Frontispiece. Crown 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
 
 " The addresses in this volume illustrate some of the highest and best phases in the 
 mental and spiritual life of Phillips Brooks. We learn to love them at once for their 
 beauty, strength, and purity ; more than all we love them for their absolute truth and 
 sincerity." 
 
 ART OUT OF DOORS: 
 
 Hints on Good Taste in Gardening. By Mrs. Schuyler van Rennsselaer, 
 Author of " English Cathedrals." 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
 
 "This is a charming book, both in literary style and make-up, with the additional 
 merit that the author treats her subject both with good taste and enthusiasm." — Builder.
 
 IO 
 
 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
 Zhe £tov\> of tbe IRations -mew Doiumes. 
 
 Each with Maps, Illustrations and Index. Large crown Svo, fancy cloth, 
 
 gold lettered, 55. 
 " Such a universal history as the series will present us with in its completion will 
 be a possession such as no country but our own can boast of." — The Daily Chronicle. 
 
 (34) PARTHIA. 
 
 By Prof. Geo. Rawlinson, 
 A uthor of "A ncient Egypt, ' ' &°c. 
 
 (35) THE AUSTRALIAN 
 COMMONWEALTH. 
 
 (New South Wales, Tasmania, 
 Western Australia, South Aus- 
 tralia, Victoria, Queensland, New 
 Zealand.) By Greville 
 Tregarthen. 
 
 (36) SPAIN (711-1492): 
 
 From the Moorish Conquest to the 
 Fall of Granada. By H. E. 
 Watts. 
 
 (37) SOUTH AFRICA. 
 
 By George M. Theal. 
 
 (38) THE CRUSADES: 
 
 The Story of the Latin Kingdom 
 of Jerusalem. 
 
 Revised and enlarged 
 
 TWO SPHERES ; 
 
 Or, Mind v. Instinct. By " T. E. S. T.' 
 throughout. Demy 8vo, cloth, 5s. 
 
 This is a new and revised edition of a work which has evoked praise from several 
 eminent authorities. It is packed with unhackneyed illustrations from numerous authors. 
 
 WILD NATURE WON BY KINDNESS. 
 
 By Mrs. Brightwen. Fifth and Revised Edition, with additional 
 Illustrations reproduced from those in the German translation. Crown 8vo, 
 imitation leather, gilt lettered, gilt edges, in box, $s. 
 
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 This work is a pleasant resume of a visit to the Land of the Troubadours, with 
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 New Publications, 1893—94. IX 
 
 THE WORK OF JOHN RUSKIN. 
 
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 Dr. Charles Waldstein, the well known author of " Essays on the Art of Pheidias," 
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 12 
 
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 (3) SIXTY YEARS OF AN 
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 (4) BAM FORD'S PASSAGES 
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 New Publication's, 1893 — 94. 
 
 Zhc Jnfcepcnbent IRovel Series— mew 
 
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 (6) STORIES FROM , 
 
 GARSHIN. 
 
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 ' Private Ivanov ' form together a com- 
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 (7) TIARI : 
 
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 Her intimate knowledge of Tahiti has 
 
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 d. 
 
 already contributed toher literary success, 
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 —popular reissue. 
 
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 RELIGIOUS DUTY. 
 PEAK IN DARIEN. 
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 14 Mr. T. Fisher Unwin's 
 
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