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JZuJA^ c^^'vXC— L^ Cj,^ . Mtxi^^L^t^^ 
 
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 ^ 
 
WALLADMOR : 
 
 " FREELY TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN 
 FROM THE ENGLISH OF .SIR WALTER SCOTT.' 
 
 FREELY TRANSLATED 
 
 FROM THE GERMAN INTO ENGLISH. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 My root is earthed ; and I, a desolate branch, 
 Left scattered in the highway of the world. 
 Trod under foot, that might have been a column 
 Mainly supporting our demolished house. — Massin§ei\ 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED FOR TAYLOR AND HESSEY, 
 
 93 FLEET STREET, AND 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
 
 1825. 
 

 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE READER. 
 
 The following novel was originally pro- 
 duced in the German language, as a .90^* 
 disant translation from Sir Walter Scott, 
 to meet the demands of the last Easter fair 
 at Leipsic. 
 
 In Germany, from the extreme difficulties 
 and slowness of communication between 
 remote parts of the country, it would be 
 
 M555355 
 
VI ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 altogether impossible to effect the publica- 
 tion of books, upon the vast scale of 
 the current German literatiu-e, without 
 some such general rendezvous and place of 
 depot and exchange as the Leipsic fair 
 presents to the dispersed members of the 
 publishing body. By means of this fair 
 (which is held half-yearly — at Easter and 
 Michaelmas) a connexion is established be- 
 tween the remotest points of the German 
 continent — which, in a literary * sense, 
 comprehends many parts of Europe that 
 pohtically are wholly distinct from Germany. 
 The publishers of Vienna, Trieste, and 
 Munich, here meet with those of Ham- 
 burgh and Dresden, of Berlin and Konigs- 
 burg : Copenhagen and Stockholm send 
 
 * Many literary men of Russia, Denmark, &c. write indiffer- 
 ently in their native or the German languages. 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. VU 
 
 their representatives: and the booksellers 
 of Warsaw and even of Moscow are brought 
 into direct contact with the agents of the 
 foreign booksellers in London. 
 
 Hence, as may be supposed, it is an ob- 
 ject of much importance that all books, 
 which found any part of their interest upon 
 their novelty, should be brought out at this 
 time : and something or other is generally 
 looked for from the pen of every popular 
 writer as a means of giving zest and season- 
 ing to the heavy Mess-Catalog. If it 
 happens therefore upon any account that 
 an author fails to meet these expectations 
 of the Leipsic fair, — obliging persons are 
 often at hand who step forward as his 
 proxy by forging something in his name. 
 This pleasant hoax it was at length judged 
 convenient to practise upon the author of 
 
VIU ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 Waverley ; the Easter fair offering a 
 favourable opportunity for such an at- 
 tempt, from the circumstance of there being 
 just then no acknowledged novel in the 
 market from the pen of that writer which 
 was sufficiently recent to gratify the wishes 
 of the fair or to throw suspicion upon the 
 pretensions of the hoaxer. These preten- 
 sions, it is asserted, for some time passed 
 unquestioned ; and the good people of 
 Germany, as we are assured, were univer- 
 sally duped. A work, produced to the 
 German public and circulated with success 
 under such assumptions, must natuially ex- 
 cite some curiosity in this country ; to 
 gratify which it has been judged proper to 
 translate it. 
 
 It may be as well to add that the name 
 " JValladmor'' is accented ujwn the first 
 
ADVERTISEMENT. IX 
 
 syllable, and not upon the penultimate, by 
 the German author ; who may reasonably 
 be allowed to dictate the pronunciation of 
 names invented by himself. 
 
DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 W ^ * * s, the German ' Translator ' of Walladmor. 
 
 Sir, 
 
 Having some intention of speaking 
 rather freely of you and your German 
 ' Translation ' in a postscript to the second 
 volume of my English one — I am shy of 
 sending a presentation copy to Berlin : 
 neither you, nor your publisher, Herr 
 Herbig, might relish all that I may take it 
 into my head to say. Yet, as books some- 
 times travel far, — if you should ever happen 
 to meet with mine knocking about the world 
 
Xll DEDICATION. 
 
 in Germany, I would wish you to know that I 
 have endeavoured to make you what amends 
 I could foi any little affront which I medi- 
 tate in that Postscript by dedicating my 
 English translation to yourself. 
 
 You will be surprised to observe that 
 your three corpulent German volumes have 
 collapsed into two English ones of rather 
 consumptive appearance. The English 
 climate, you see, does not agree with 
 them : and they have lost flesh as rapidly 
 as Captain le Harnois in Chapter the 
 Eighth. The truth is this ; on exa- 
 mining your ship, I found that the dry 
 rot had got into her : she might answer the 
 helm pretty well in your milder waters ; 
 but I was convinced that upon our stormy 
 English seas she would founder, unless I 
 flung overboard part of her heavy ballast;, 
 and cut away some of her middle timbers, 
 which (I assure you) were mere touchwood. 
 
DEDICATION. XIU 
 
 I did so ; and she righted in a moment : 
 and now, that I have driven a few new 
 bolts into her — ' calked ' her— and * payed ' 
 her, I am in hopes she will prove sea-worthy 
 for a voyage or so. 
 
 We have a story in England, rather 
 trite here, and a sort of philosophic com- 
 mon-place, like Buridan's 'Ass between 
 two bundles of hay,' but possibly unknown 
 in Germany : and, as it is pertinent to the 
 case between ourselves, I will tell it : the 
 more so, as it involves a metaphysical 
 question ; and such questions, you know, 
 go up to you people in Germany from all 
 parts of Europe as to " the courts above." 
 
 Sir John Cutler had a pair of silk 
 
 stockings : which stockings his housekeeper 
 Dolly continually darned for the term of 
 three years with worsted : at the end of 
 which term the last faint gleam of silk had 
 finally vanished, and Sir John's silk stock- 
 
XIV DEDICATION. 
 
 ings were found in their old age absolutely 
 to have degenerated into xvorsted stockings. 
 Now upon this a question arose among the 
 metaphysicians — whether Sir John's stock- 
 ings retained (or, if not, at what precise 
 period they lost) their " personal identity." 
 The moralists also were anxious to know 
 whether Sir John's stockings could be con- 
 sidered the same " accountable " stockings 
 from first to last. And the laywers put the 
 same question in another shape by asking — 
 whether any felony, which Sir John's stock- 
 ings could be supposed to have committed in 
 youth, might lawfully be the subject of an 
 indictment against Sir John's stockings 
 when superannuated : whether a legacy, left 
 to the stockings in the second year, could 
 be claimed by the stockings at the end of 
 the third : and whether the worsted stock- 
 ings could be sued for the debts of the silk 
 stockings. — Some such question, I con- 
 
DEDICATION. XV 
 
 ceive, will arise upon your account of 
 St. David's Day, as darned by myself. 
 
 But here, my good Sir, stop a moment : 
 I must not have you interpret the precedent 
 of Sir John and Dolly too strictly: Sir 
 John's stockings were originally of silk, 
 and darned with worsted : but don't conceit 
 that to be the case here. No, no, my good 
 Sir ; — I flatter myself the case between us 
 is just the other way : your worsted stock- 
 ings it is that 1 have darned with silk : and 
 the relations, which I and Dolly bear to you 
 and Sir John, are precisely inverted. 
 
 What could induce you to dress good 
 St. David in an old threadbare coat, it 
 passes my skill to guess : it is enough that 
 I am sure it would give general disgust ; 
 and therefore I have not only made him a 
 present of a new coat, but have also put a 
 little embroidery upon it. And I really 
 think I shall astoni.sh the good folks in 
 
XVI DEDICATION. 
 
 Merionethshire by my account of that 
 saint's festival. In my young days I wan- 
 dered much in that beautiful shire and 
 other shires which lie contiguous : and 
 many a kind thing was done to me in poor 
 men's cottages which to my dying day I 
 shall never be able to repay individually : 
 hence, as occasions offer, I would seek to 
 make my acknowledgments generally to the 
 county. Upon Penmorfa sands I once had 
 an interesting adventure, and I have ac- 
 cordingly commemorated Penmorfa. To the 
 little town of Machynleth I am indebted for 
 various hospitalities : and 1 think they will 
 acknowledge that they are indebted to me 
 exclusively for their mayor and corporation. 
 And there are others in that neighbourhood 
 that, when they read of St. David's day, 
 will hardly know whether they are standing 
 on their head or their heels. As to the 
 Bishop of Bangor of those days, I owed his 
 
DEDICATION. XVll 
 
 lordship no particular favor : and I have 
 here taken my vengeance on that see for 
 ever by making it do suit and service to the 
 house of Walladmor. 
 
 But enough of St. David's day. There 
 are some other little changes which I have 
 been obliged to make in deference to the 
 taste of this country. In the case of 
 Captain le Harnois it appears to me that, 
 from imperfect knowledge of the English 
 language, you have confounded the words 
 * sailor ' and * tailor ' ; for you make the 
 Captain talk exactly like the latter. There 
 is however a great deal of difference in the 
 habits of the two animals according to our 
 English natural histories : and I have there- 
 fore slightly retouched the Captain, and 
 curled his whiskers. I have also taken the 
 liberty, in the seventh chapter, of curing 
 Miss Walladmor of an hysterical affection : 
 what purpose it answered, I believe you 
 
 vol.. I. b 
 
XX DEDICATION. 
 
 lows in Germany : for, if I live, you shall 
 not have all the hoaxing to yourselves. 
 
 Meantime, " mine dear Sare," could you 
 not translate me back again into German ; 
 and darn me as I have darned you ? But 
 you must not " sweat" me down in the 
 same ratio that I have " sweated" you : 
 for, if you do that, I fear that my " di- 
 mensions will become invisible to any thick 
 sight " in Germany ; and I shall " present 
 no mark" to the critical enemy. Darn me 
 into two portly volumes : and then I give 
 you my word of honor that I will again 
 translate you into English, and darn you in 
 such grand style that, if Dolly and Profes- 
 sor Kant were both to rise from the dead, 
 Dolly should grow jealous of me — and Kant 
 confess himself more puzzled on the matter 
 of personal identity by the final Wallad- 
 mor than ever he had been by the Cut- 
 lerian stockings. 
 
DEDICATION. XXI 
 
 Jusqu'au revoir ! my dear princiiial : 
 hoping that you will soon invest me with 
 that character in relation to yourself ; and 
 sign, as it is now my turn to sign. 
 
 Your obedient 
 (but not quite faithful) 
 
 TRANSLATOR. 
 
GERMAN DEDICATION. Xxiii 
 
 GERMAN "TRANSLATOR'S' 
 
 DEDICATION 
 
 TO 
 
 SIR WALTER SCOTT, BART. 
 
 Sir, — Uncommon it may certainly be, 
 but sm*ely not a thing quite unheard of, 
 that a translator should dedicate his trans- 
 lation to the author of the original work : 
 and, the translation here offered to your 
 notice — being, as the writer flatters himself, 
 by no means a common one, — he is the 
 more encouraged to take this very uncom- 
 mon liberty. 
 
 Ah Sir Walter ! — did you but know to 
 what straits the poor German translator 
 
 VOL. L b 4 
 
Xxiv GERMAN DEDICATION. 
 
 of Walter-Scottish novels is reduced, you 
 would pardon greater liberties than this. 
 Ecoutez, First of all, comes the bookseller 
 and cheapens a translator in the very- 
 cheapest market of translation -jobbers that 
 can be supposed likely to do any justice to 
 the work. Next, — the sheets, dripping wet 
 as they arrive by every post from the Edin- 
 burgh press, must be translated just as 
 they stand with or without sense or con- 
 nexion. Nay it happens not unfrequently 
 that, if a sheet should chance to end with 
 one or two syllables of an unfinished word, 
 we are obliged to translate this first instal- 
 ment of a future meaning ; and, by the 
 time the next sheet arrives with the sylla- 
 bles in arrear, we first learn into what con- 
 founded scrapes we have fallen by guessing 
 and translating at hap-hazard. Nomina 
 sunt ocliosa : else — but I shall content 
 myself with reminding the public of the 
 well-known and sad mishap that occurred in 
 the translation of Kenilworth. In another 
 
GERMAN DEDICATION. XXV 
 
 instance the sheet unfortunately closed thus: 
 — " to save himself from these disasters^ 
 he became an agent of Smith- ; " and we 
 all translated — " um sich aus diesen triib- 
 seligkeiten zu erretten, wurde er Agent 
 bei einem Schmiedemeister ; " that is, " he 
 became foreman to a blacksmith^ Now 
 sad it is to tell what followed : we had 
 dashed at it, and waited in trembling hope 
 for the residt : next morning's jK)st arrived, 
 and showed that all Germany had been 
 basely betrayed by a catch-word of Mr. 
 Constable's. For the next sheet took up 
 the imperfect and embryo catch-word thus : 
 — ''field matches, or jiiarriages contracted 
 for the sake of money ; " and the whole 
 German sentence should have been repaired 
 and put to rights as follows: " Er nego- 
 cirte, um sich aufzuhelfen, die sogenannten 
 Smithfields heirathen oder Ehen, welche 
 des Gewinnstes wegen geschlossen wer- 
 den : " I sav, it should have been : but 
 woe is me ! it was too late : the translated 
 b5 
 
XXvi GERMAN DEDICATION. 
 
 sheet had heen already printed ofF with the 
 blacksmith in it (lord confound him!); 
 and the blacksmith is there to this day, and 
 cannot be ejected. 
 
 You see, Sir Walter, into what " sloughs 
 of despond " we German translators fall — 
 with the sad necessity of dragging your 
 honor after us. Yet this is but a part of 
 the general woe. When you hear in every 
 bookseller's shop throughout Germany one 
 unanimous complaint of the non-purchasing 
 public and of those great profit-absorbing 
 whirlpools, the circulating libraries, — in 
 short all possible causes of diminished sale 
 on the one hand ; and on the other hand 
 the forestalling spirit of competition among 
 the translation -jobbers, bidding over each 
 other's heads as at an auction, where the 
 translation is knocked down to him that 
 will contract for bringing his wares soonest 
 to market ; — hearing all this. Sir Walter, 
 you will perceive that our old German 
 proverb " Eile mit JVcile,'' (i. e. Festina 
 
GERMAN DEDICATION. XXVll 
 
 lente, or the more haste, the less speed) 
 
 must in this case, where haste happens to 
 
 be the one great qualification and sine-qud- 
 
 non of a translator, be thrown altogether 
 
 into the shade by that other proverb— 
 
 " Wer zuerst kommt mahlt zuerst " {First 
 come first served), 
 
 I for my part, that I might not lie so 
 
 wholly at the mercy of this tyrant — Haste, 
 
 struck out a fresh path- — in which you. Sir, 
 
 were so obliging as to assist me. But see 
 
 what new troubles arise out of this to the 
 
 unhappy translator. The world pretends 
 
 to doubt whether the novel is really yours:* 
 
 * Oh ! spirit of modern scepticism, to what shocking results 
 art thou leading us ! Already have Lycurgus, Romulus, Numa, 
 &c. been resolved into mere allegorized ideas. And a learned 
 friend has undertaken to prove, within the next 50 years, accord- 
 ing to the best rules of modern scc-psu^ that no such banker as 
 Mr, Rothschild ever existed ; that the word Rothschild in fact 
 was nothing more than a symbolic expression for a habit of ad- 
 vancing loans at the beginning of the 19th century : which indeed 
 the word itself indicates, if reduced to its roots. I should not be 
 surprized to hear that some man had undertaken to demonstrate 
 the non-existence of Sir Walter Scott: already there are symp- 
 toms abroad : for the mysterious author of Waverley has in our 
 own days been detected in the persons of so many poets and, his- 
 
XXVlll GERMAN DEDICATION. 
 
 people actually begin to talk of your friend 
 Washington Irving as the author, and God 
 knows whom beside. As if any man, poets 
 out of the question, could be supposed ca- 
 pable of an act of self-sacrifice so severe as 
 that of wTiting a romance in 3 vols, under 
 the name of a friend. 
 
 All this tends to drive us translators to 
 litter despair. However I, in my garret, 
 comfort myself by exclaiming ' Odi pro- 
 fanum — ,'' if I cannot altogether subjoin 
 — " et arceo." From your obliging dispo- 
 sition. Sir Walter, I anticipate the gratifi- 
 cation of a few lines by the next post 
 establishing the authenticity of Walladmor. 
 Should these lines even not be duly certified 
 " coram notario duobusque testibus," yet if 
 transmitted through the embassy — they 
 will sufficiently attest their own legitimacy 
 as well as that of your youngest child Wal- 
 ladmor. 
 
 torians the most oppo^dte to each other, that by this time his 
 personality must have been evaporated and volatilized into a 
 whole synod of men Note of the Dedicator. 
 
GERMAN DEDICATION. %%VL 
 
 Nothwithstaiiding what I have said about 
 haste, I fear that haste has played me a 
 trick here and there. The fact is— we are 
 in dread of three simultaneous translations 
 of Walladmor from three different pub- 
 lishers : and you will hardly believe how 
 much the anxiety lest another translation 
 should get the start of us can shake the 
 stoutest of translating hearts. The names of 
 Lindau — Methusalem Miiller— Dr. Spieker 
 — Von Halem — and Loz*= sound awfully 
 in the ears of us gentlemen of the trade. 
 And now, alas ! as many more are crowding 
 into this Quinquevirate. 
 
 Should it happen that the recent ver- 
 sions of your works had not entirely satisfied 
 your judgment, and that mine of Wallad- 
 mor had, — I would in that case esteem my- 
 self greatly flattered by your again sending 
 
 me through the house of B a copy of 
 
 the manuscript of your next romance ; in 
 
 * Names of persons who have translated one or more Qf Sir 
 Walter Scott's novels into Gernnan. 
 
XXX GERMAN DEDICATION. 
 
 provision for which case I do here by anti- 
 cipation acknowledge my obligations to 
 you ; and in due form of law bind myself 
 over : 
 
 1. To the making good all expences of 
 " copy," &c. ; 
 
 2. To the translation of both prose and 
 verse according to the best of my poor abi- 
 lities ; that your eminent name may not 
 fall into discredit through the translator's 
 incompetence ; 
 
 3. To all possible affection, friendship, 
 respect, &c. in so far as you yom*self shall 
 be pleased to accept of any or all of these 
 from 
 
 The German Translator of Walladmor. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGE. 
 
 Shipwreck and Storm 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Smuggler's Hut 23 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Captain le Hamois 47 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Welch Coast at Christmas 73 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Night Walk to Machynleth 101 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Bar of the Walladmor Arms. 125 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 St. David's Day. l6l 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 Suitors in Court, and Suitors out of Court. I91 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Funeral of Captain le Harnois 219 
 
WALLADMOR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 As when a dolphin and a sele are met 
 In the wide champian of the ocean plaine, 
 With cniell chaufe their courages they whet. 
 The maysterdonie of each by force to gaine, 
 And dreadfull battaile twixt them do darraine ; 
 They snuf, they snort, they bounce, they rage, they rore> 
 That all the sea, disturbed with their traine. 
 Doth frie with fome above the surges hore : 
 Such was betwixt these two the troublesome uprore. 
 
 Faerie Queene. — B. v. C. ii. 
 
 Perhaps the reader may still remember 
 the following article in the Times newspa- 
 per, which about a year or two ago raised a 
 powerful interest on the Welch coast. 
 
 " Carnarvon. — Yesterday the inha- 
 bitants of this city were witnesses to a 
 grand but afflicting spectacle from the 
 highlands of the coast. The steam-vessel, 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
2 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Halcyon, from the Isle of Wight, and 
 bound to the north coast of Wales, was 
 suddenly in mid-channel — when not a 
 breath of wind ruffled the surface of the 
 sea — driven into our bay. Scarcely had 
 she rounded the point of Harlech w^hen we 
 beheld a column of smoke rising ; and in 
 a moment after a dreadfid report, echoing 
 from the mountains, made known that the 
 powder magazine was blown up, and the 
 ship shattered into fragments. The barks, 
 which crowded to the spot from all quar- 
 ters, found nothing but floating spars ; and 
 were soon compelled to return by the com- 
 ing-on of a dreadful hurricane. Of the 
 whole crew, and of sixty passengers (chiefly 
 English people returning from France), not 
 one is saved. It is said that a very atro- 
 cious criminal was on board the Halcyon. 
 We look with the utmost anxiety for the 
 details of this melancholy event." 
 
 To the grief of several noble families in 
 England, this account was confirmed in its 
 
WALLA DMOR. 3 
 
 most dreadful circumstances. Some days 
 after the bodies of Lord W***, and of Sir 
 
 O (that distinguished ornament 
 
 for so long a period of the House of Com- 
 mons), were found upon the rocks. So 
 much were they disfigured, that it was with 
 difficulty they were recognized. 
 
 On that day there stood upon the deck of 
 the Halcyon a young man, who gazed on 
 the distant coasts of Wales apparently with 
 deep emotion. From this reverie he was 
 suddenly roused as the ship whirled round 
 with a hideous heaving. He turned, as 
 did all the other passengers who had been 
 attracted on deck by the beauty of the 
 evening, to the man at the helm. He was 
 in the act of stretching out his arms to the 
 centre of the ship, whence a cloud of smoke 
 was billowing upwards in voluminous 
 surges: the passengers turned pale: the 
 sailors began to swear : " It's all over ! " 
 they shouted : " old Davy has us. So huzza ! 
 let's have some sport as long as he leaves us 
 B 2 
 
4 WALLADMOR. 
 
 any day-light." Amitlst an uproar of voices 
 the majority of the crew rushed below ; 
 stove in the brandy-casks; drank every 
 thing they could find ; and paid no sort of 
 regard to the clamorous outcries of the pas- 
 sengers for help ! help ! except that here 
 and there a voice replied — Help ? There 
 is no help : Old Nick will swallow us all : 
 so let us swallow a little comfort first. 
 
 The master of the vessel, who retained 
 most presence of mind, hurried on deck. 
 With his sabre he made a cut at the ropes 
 which suspended the boat: and, as he 
 passed Bertram, the young man already 
 mentioned (who in preparation for the ap- 
 proaching catastrophe had buckled about 
 his person a small portmanteau and stood 
 ready to leap into the boat), with a blow of 
 his fist he struck him overboard. All this 
 was the work of a minute. 
 
 Scarcely had the young man been swept 
 to a little distance by a wave, when the 
 ship blew up with a tremendous crash. The 
 
WALLADMOR. 5 
 
 shattered ruins were carried aloft to an im- 
 mense elevation : Bertram was stunned by 
 the explosion: and, upon recovering his 
 senses, he saw no object upon the surface of 
 the waters : the ship had vanished ; and 
 nothing remained but a few spars floating 
 in the offing. 
 
 Urgent distress throws us back upon our 
 real and unfanciful wants. In the peril of 
 the moment Bertram forgot all the pros- 
 pects, sad or gay — painful or flattering, 
 which had occupied his thoughts on board 
 the ship ; and exerted his utmost force to 
 swim through the tumbling billows to a 
 barrel at a little distance which appeared 
 and disappeared at intervals, sometimes 
 riding aloft, and sometimes hidden by the 
 waves. At the moment when his powers 
 began to fail him, he succeeded in reaching 
 the barrel. — But scarcely had he laid hold 
 of the outermost rim with both hands, when 
 the barrel was swayed down from the oppo- 
 site side. A shipwrecked man, whose long 
 
WALLADMOR. 
 
 wet hair streamed down over his face, fixed 
 his nails, as it were the talons of a vulture, 
 on the hoops of the barrel ; and by the 
 energy of his grijie — it seemed as though he 
 would have pressed them through the wood 
 itself — He was aware of his competitor : 
 and he shook his head wildly to clear the 
 hair out of his eyes — and opened his lips, 
 which displayed his teeth pressed firmly to- 
 gether. 
 
 " No : though the d — 1 himself, — thou 
 must down into the sea : for the barrel will 
 not support both." 
 
 So speaking he shook the barrel with 
 such force — that the young man, had he 
 not been struggling with death, would have 
 been pushed under water. Both pulled at 
 the barrel for some minutes, without either 
 succeeding in hoisting himself upon it. — 
 In any further contest they seemed likely 
 to endanger themselves or to sink 
 together with the cask. They agreed 
 therefore to an armistice. Each kept his 
 
WALLADMOR. 7 
 
 hold by his right hand, — each raised his 
 left aloft, and shouted for succour. But 
 they shouted in vain ; for the storm ad- 
 vanced, as if it heard and were summoned 
 by the cry; the sky was black and porten- 
 tously lurid ; thunder now began to roll ; 
 and the waves, which had hardly moved be- 
 fore the explosion, raised their heads crested 
 with foam more turbulently at every instant. 
 " It is in vain," said the second man ; 
 " Heaven and Earth are against us : one or 
 both must perish : Messmate, shall we go 
 down together ? " 
 
 At these words the wild devil all at once 
 left loose of the barrel ; by which means the 
 other, who had not anticipated this move- 
 ment, lost his balance, and was sinking. 
 His antagonist made use of his opportunity. 
 He dashed at the sinking man's throat — in 
 order to drag him entirely under the wa- 
 ter ; but he caught only his neck-handker- 
 chief, which luckily gave way. The other 
 thus murderously assaulted, on finding 
 
8 WALLADMOR. 
 
 himself at liberty for an instant, used his 
 time, and sprang upon the barrel ; and just 
 as his desperate enemy was hazarding a 
 new attack, in a death struggle he struck 
 him with his clenched fist upon the breast ; 
 the mid man threw up his arms ; groaned ; 
 sank back ; — and the waves swallowed him 
 up. 
 
 In the moments of mortal agony and 
 conflict human laws cease, for punishments 
 have lost their terrors ; even higher laws 
 are then silent. But, in the pauses of the 
 struggle, the voice of conscience resumes its 
 power, — and the heart of man again re- 
 lents. As Bertram went rocking over the 
 waves numbed in body and exhausted in 
 spirits, all about him hideous gloom, and 
 the fitful flashes of lightning serving but to 
 light up the great world of terrors — this 
 inner voice was not so silenced but that he 
 felt a pang of sorrow at the thought of hav- 
 ing destroyed the partner of his misfor- 
 tunes. A few minutes however had scarcely 
 
WALLADMOR. 9 
 
 passed before he heard a groamiig near him. 
 Happily at this instant a flash of lightning 
 illuminated the surrounding tract of wa- 
 ter; and he descried his antagonist still 
 fighting with the waves : he was holding by 
 a spar too weak to support his weight, 
 but capable of assisting him in swimming. 
 His powers were apparently failing him, as 
 he looked up to his more fortunate enemy : 
 He stretched out his hand to him, and 
 said: 
 
 " Stranger ! show me this pity. All is 
 over with me ; or in a moment will be : 
 should you have a happier fate, take from 
 my pocket-book this letter — and convey it 
 to the lady. Oh ! if thou hast ever loved, I 
 beseech thee to do this : tell her that I ne- 
 ver ceased to think of her — that I thought 
 of her only when I was at the point of 
 death : and, whatsoever I may have been to 
 man, that to her I have been most faithful." 
 With frantic efforts he strove to unclasp 
 his pocket-book : but could not succeed. 
 
10 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 Bertram was deeply touched by the pallid 
 and ghastly counteiiaiice of the man (in 
 whose features however there was a wild 
 and licentious expression which could not 
 be mistaken) ; and he said to him : 
 
 " Friend below, if I should have better 
 luck, I will endeavour to execute your com- 
 mission. Meantime I can swim ; and I 
 have now rested myself. Give me your 
 hand. You may come aloft ; and I will 
 take a turn in the waters until I am tired. 
 In this way, by taking turn about, possibly 
 both of us may be saved." 
 
 " What ! " cried the other — " are you 
 crazy ? Or are there really men upon this 
 earth such as books describe ? " 
 
 " No matter ; " said Bertram, " give me 
 your hand ; and spring up. I will catch at 
 the barrel when I feel weak." 
 
 The other grasped the outstretched 
 hand ; and, supporting himself for a few 
 moments upon his elbows, gradually as- 
 cended the barrel Bertram, on his part, 
 
WALLADMOR. 11 
 
 resigning the portmanteau to his compa- 
 nion, slipped off into the waves. 
 
 Meanwhile the storm continued, and the 
 natural darkness of night was now blended 
 with the darkness of tempest. After some 
 minutes, the man, who was at present in 
 possession of the barrel, began thus : 
 
 " You fool, below there, are you still 
 alive?" 
 
 " Yes : but I am faint, and would wish 
 to catch hold of the barrel again." 
 
 " Catch away then : — Do you know any 
 thing of the sea hereabouts ? " 
 
 " No : it was the first time in my life 
 that I was ever on shipboard." 
 
 The other laughed. " You don't know 
 it ? Well ! now I do : and I can tell you 
 this : there's no manner of use in our 
 plaguing ourselves, and spending the last 
 strength we have in keeping ourselves 
 afloat. I know this same sea as well as I 
 know my own country: and I am satisfied 
 that no deliverance is possible. There is 
 
12 WALLA DMOK. 
 
 not a spot of shore that we can reach — not 
 a point of rock big enough for a sea-mew ; 
 and the only question for us is — whether 
 we shall enter the fishes' maw alive or 
 dead." 
 
 " It is still possible," said the other — 
 " that some human brother may come to 
 our assistance." 
 
 The other laughed again and said — 
 " Human brother, eh? Methinks, my 
 friend, you should be rather young in this 
 world of ours — and have no great ac- 
 quaintance with master man : I know the 
 animal : and you may take my word for it, 
 that, on such a night as this, no soul will 
 venture out to sea. What man of sense 
 indeed would hazard his life — for a couple 
 of ragamuffins like you and me ? and sup- 
 pose he would, who knows but that it might 
 be worse to fall into the hands of some men 
 of se7ise than into the tender mercies of 
 the sea? But I know a trick worth two of 
 that." 
 
WALLADMOR. 13 
 
 « Tell it then." 
 
 " Let us leave fooling : This cask, on 
 which I sit, to my knowledge contains rum ; 
 or arrack ; which is as good. We can ea- 
 sily knock a 'hole in it; then make our- 
 selves happy and bouzy — fling our arms 
 about each other like brothers, and go down 
 together to the bottom : after that, I think 
 we shall neither trouble nor be troubled ; 
 for we shall hardly come up again, if we go 
 down groggy." 
 
 " Shocking ? why that's suicide ! " 
 " Well ! is your conscience so delicate 
 and scrupulous ? However as you please : 
 for any thing I care, and as you like it bet- 
 ter, some dog of a fish may do for us what 
 we might as well have done for ourselves. 
 But now come aloft, my darling. I'll take 
 my turn at swimming — as long as the state 
 of things will allow it ; and wait for you 
 below." They changed situations. — But 
 even upon the barrel, Bertram began to 
 feel his powers sinking. He clung as 
 
14 WALLADMOR. 
 
 firmly as he could. But the storm grew 
 more and more terrific : and many times he 
 felt faint in his wild descents from the 
 summit of some mounting wave into the 
 yawning chasm below: Nature is benign 
 even in the midst of her terrors : and, 
 when horrors have been accumulated till 
 man can bear no more, then his sufferings 
 are relieved for a time by insensibility. On 
 awakening it is true that the horrors will 
 return; but the heart has gained fresh 
 strength to support them. 
 
 So it fared with Bertram, who continued 
 to grow fainter and fainter ; until at length 
 in the midst of silent prayer he finally lost 
 all consciousness. 
 
 When Bertram next awoke from his 
 fainting fit, he heard the sea no longer 
 thundering about him, and no longer felt 
 himself tossing upon its waves. There was 
 darkness around him, but not the darkness 
 of that mighty night which the elements in 
 uproar form. What first met his eyes was 
 
WALLADMOR. 15 
 
 the obscure outline of a rude hut. For a 
 long time he stared without consciousness 
 upon the rafters of the ceiling, on which fish 
 and ragged aprons were hung up to dry, 
 and swinging to and fro in the current of 
 air. This monotonous motion, which under 
 other circumstances might have lulled him 
 to sleep like the ticking of a clock, gradu- 
 ally awoke him to entire consciousness. 
 The awful scene, which had just passed 
 over him, came up to his mind in sudden 
 contrast with that bright moment on the 
 deck of the Halcyon in which he had first 
 beheld the coasts of Wales lying in sun- 
 shine before him ; and his thoughts soon 
 took a coherent arrangement ; though he 
 could not yet make out the connexion be* 
 tween the barrel on which he had navi- 
 gated the ocean and his present bed, nor 
 between that fearful night abroad and the 
 dried herrings and patched aprons which 
 now dangled above him. These thoughts 
 however gave way at this moment to 
 
16 WALLADMOR. 
 
 anxiety about his portmanteau. This to 
 his great satisfaction he found beneath his 
 head ; and he now turned his attention to 
 the other objects about him. 
 
 The cottage was of that humble order 
 which in this kingdom are found only at 
 the extremities of the Scotch Highlands, 
 and tenanted by a race of paupers who gain 
 a scanty subsistence from the limpits and 
 other marine products which they take at 
 low water. The frame-work of the hovel 
 was rudely put together of undressed pine- 
 boughs : the walls v/ere a mixed composi- 
 tion of clay, turf, sea- weed, muscle-shells, 
 and flints : timbers had been laid for the 
 main-beams of a ceiling ; but they were not 
 connected by joists, nor covered in ; so that 
 the viev/ was left open to the summit of the 
 roof, which being composed of sedge and 
 moss allowed a passage to the wind and rain. 
 In the Httle room were hanging all kinds of 
 utensils, but in so confused an arrange- 
 ment and in so dubious a hght that Ber- 
 
WALT.ADMOR. 17 
 
 tram could make out but little of what he 
 saw. The sole light in the hut proceeded 
 from a fire in the corner. But this fire 
 was so sparingly fed, that it seldom 
 blazed up or shot forth a tongue of flame 
 except when a draught of wind swept 
 through ; which however happened pretty 
 often. The smoke escaped much less 
 through the chimney than through the 
 chinks of the wall ; enveloping every object 
 in a dusky shade, and deepening the gloom. 
 Perfect silence reigned in the house ; and 
 no living creature appeared to be present. 
 But once, when the fire happened to shoot 
 forth a livelier gleam, the clouds of smoke 
 parted and discovered a female counte- 
 nance — old, and with striking features, and 
 fixing a pair of large dark-grey eyes upon a 
 pan or cauldron which hung over the fire. 
 Sometimes, when a cloud of vapour arose 
 from the pan, and collected in a corner into 
 fantastic wreaths, she pursued it with her 
 eyes, and a smile played over her withered 
 VOL. I. c 
 
18 WALI.ADMOE. 
 
 cheeks : but, when it dispersed or escaped 
 through the chinks, a low muttering and 
 sometimes a moaning might be distin- 
 guished. She had, as Bertram observed, a 
 spinning-wheel between her feet : but busy 
 as her hands seemed, and mechanically in 
 motion, it was evident that she did little or 
 no work. At intervals she sang : but what 
 she sang was more like a low muttered 
 chaunt, than a regular song : at least Ber- 
 tram understood not a word of it, if words 
 they were that escaped her. 
 
 After one of these chaunts, the old wo- 
 man rose suddenly from her seat, wrung 
 her hands, seemed to trace strange circles 
 in the air, and then scattered some sub- 
 stance into the fire which raised a sudden 
 burst of flames that curled over the caul- 
 dron, lit up the house for a few moments, 
 and then roaring up the chimney left all in 
 greater darkness than before. During 
 these few moments however Bertram had 
 tim« to observe the whole appearance of the 
 
WAI.I-ADMOR. 1® 
 
 woman with some distinctness. She seemed 
 to have the statui'e of a well-grown man ; 
 but her flesh had fallen away so remarkably 
 that the red frieze gown which she wore 
 hung in loose folds about her. Much as 
 Bertram was shocked at first by the spec- 
 tacle of her harsh bony lineaments, her fiery 
 eye, and her grey disheveled hair, — he yet 
 perceived in her face the traces of former 
 beauty. She raised her bony arms, as if in 
 supplication, to that quarter of the room 
 where Bertram was lying : he perceived 
 however that it was not himself, but some 
 object near him which drew her attention. 
 To his great alarm he now discovered close 
 to himself a chair — the only one in the 
 room, — and sitting upon it some motion- 
 less figure in the attitude of a living man. 
 The old woman stretched out her hands 
 with more and more earnestness to this 
 object, as though she looked for some sign 
 from it : but, receiving none, she struck 
 c 2 
 
20 WALLADMOR. 
 
 her hands violently together ; in a trans- 
 port of rage upset the spinning-wheel ; and 
 fell back into her seat. If Bertram had at 
 first felt compassion on witnessing the ex- 
 pressions of her grief and the anguish of 
 her expectation, this feeling was soon put 
 to flight by the frantic explosion of anger 
 which followed. So great was his conster- 
 nation that he resolved to attempt escaping 
 unobserved from the cottage ; and he first 
 hoped to recover his full self-possession 
 when he should find himself at liberty and 
 in the open air. With this intention, it 
 may be readily imagined how much his 
 consternation was increased on finding him- 
 self unable to stir either hand or foot. 
 His head even moved with difficulty : 
 and it seemed as though no faculty had 
 been left unaffected but that of eye-sight, 
 which served but to torment him by bring- 
 ing before him this scene of terror. He 
 could almost have wished to exchange his 
 
WALLADMOR. 21 
 
 present situation for his recent exposure to 
 the fury of the elements. He attempted 
 to sleep ; but found himself unable ; and 
 after the lapse of two long hours he heard 
 a knocking at the door. 
 
WALLADMOR. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Tit. Fear her not, Lucius ; somewhat doth she mean ; 
 Canst thou not guess wherefore she plies thee thus ? 
 
 Boy. My Lord, I know not, I ; nor can I guess ; 
 Unless some fit or frenzy do possess her : 
 For I have heard my grandsire say full often, 
 Extremity of griefs would make men mad : 
 And I have read that Hecuba of Troy 
 Ran mad through sorrow : that made me to fear. 
 
 Tit. Andron. — Act. iv. 
 
 The knocking grew louder and louder; 
 but the old woman answered not a word ; 
 on the contrary she seemed only the more 
 earnestly mtent on her spinning. At length 
 a little rustling was heard ; by some artifice 
 the door was unbolted from the outside ; 
 and somebody stepped in. Even then the 
 old woman did not stir from her seat ; and 
 the man who had entered, flinging down a 
 heap of old drift wood, opened the conversa- 
 tion himself: 
 
 '* What's the matter now, mother, that 
 you keep me so long waiting ? " 
 
24 WALLADMOR. 
 
 "Waiting!" retorted the old woman 
 without raising her eyes from her wheel, 
 " you waiting ! — Humph ! A pretty waiting 
 I should have, if I were to wait on every 
 idle fellow that knocks." 
 
 " Aye, mother ; hut think of the wea- 
 ther and the frost that " 
 
 ** The frost? I tell thee what— a bon- 
 nier lad than thou, and one that I loved 
 better far, lies frozen in his grave." 
 
 " Well, here's a brave load of wood ! I 
 gathered it on the beach." 
 
 "Wood! aye, ragged fragments! There^s 
 many such drifting about in this world." 
 
 " Like enough, mother : and, ragged as 
 they are, there's many a bold fellow with 
 rags on his back that would be glad to warm 
 his hands over them." 
 
 " There's one in his grave will never 
 warm himself again." And here the old 
 woman began to mutter her unintelligible 
 songs. 
 
 '* So ! — the old crooning ! '* said the young 
 
WALLADMOR. 25 
 
 man to himself: and, going up to the fire, 
 he said — " Mother, you mind nothing: 
 youVe no thought for any of us ; and one 
 of these days you'll he doing something or 
 other that will hring the police rats upon 
 us : and then all's up ; and we shall all go 
 to the old tree." 
 
 " To the tree? go, and welcome! And I'll 
 go with you. All the tribe of you is not worth 
 a hair of him that I knew once. And when 
 the day comes that some are outside and 
 knocking at the door that shall knock (well 
 I wot) one of these days, — and all you are 
 hushed and trembling within, and the 
 proudest of you shaking at the knees, — 
 then comes my time for laughing : and I 
 will open the door, and cry — Here they 
 are!'' 
 
 The young man muttered something to 
 himself, pushed aside the cauldron, and laid 
 on some faggots and dry wood, — so that the 
 rude hovel was suddenly illuminated with 
 splendour. 
 
 " Aye!" s^ the old woman, " best 
 
26 AVAl,i>AD3101?. 
 
 make a bcacon-Iirc, and light all the consta- 
 bles u}^ hither ! " 
 
 " Well, better be hanged than freeze ! — 
 Eut, mother — ^mother, where's the warm 
 broth for the poor perishing soul when he 
 wakes ? " 
 
 " What !" said the old woman angrily, 
 " shall I go down on my knees, and tend 
 him like a son of my own ? Well I remem- 
 ber the day (woe is me !) that they all 
 scoffed at me when I moaned for one that 
 was 7iot a stranger : as God's my help, Til 
 be no laughing-stock again : it's my turn to 
 langh next." 
 
 " But Nicholas, mother — it's Nicholas 
 that bids us tend him ; and our souls are 
 pledged for the stranger's." 
 
 " Nicholas ! eh ? Oh ! yes, bonny Nicho- 
 las ! And his soul is in pledge too. The 
 old one has had him once by the head : and 
 for that time he let him go : but he has 
 him for all that : the noose is fast ; and 
 there's no sheers will ever cut that noose." 
 
 Without paying any fiuther regard to her 
 
WALLADMOK. 2? 
 
 words, the young man filled a kettle with 
 water and placed it on the fire: then, 
 shaking the old woman's arm — as if to rouse 
 her (like a child) into some attention to his 
 words — he said to her earnestly : 
 
 " Mother Gillie, now boil the sea-man's 
 drink of thyme, ground-ivy, pepper, ginger, 
 honey, brandy, and all that belongs to it — 
 you know how : make it, as you make it for 
 ship-wrecked folk ; and give it every hour 
 to the poor soul there : and remember this 
 — mother Gillie's life answers for his." 
 
 Like a child that has been told to do 
 something under pain of punishment, the 
 old woman answered — " Aye, aye ; thyme, 
 ground-ivy, pepper, ginger" — and went 
 about her work. The young man then 
 came up to the bed ; and, laying his hands 
 on Bertram, said — 
 
 " Ah, poor soul ! he'll never be warm 
 again: the sea has broke over him too 
 roughly : but no matter : mother Gillie 
 must brew the drink, if the man were u 
 
28 WALLADMOR. 
 
 corpse ; for Nicholas has said it. — Well, 
 mother, God bless you ! and another time 
 when a Christian and one of us knocks at 
 the door on a winter's night, sing out — 
 Come in! and, if he should chance to be cold 
 and thirsty, give him a glass of brandy ; 
 and think now and then that a living man 
 is made of flesh as well as bones.*' 
 
 " Whither away then, Tom ? To Grace, 
 I'll warrant — the wench that has snared 
 thee, and carries thee away from all thy 
 kinsfolk." 
 
 " No : I must be gone to the castle ; for 
 Sir Morgan hunts in the morning." 
 
 " Ah ! that Sir IMorgan ! that Sir Mor- 
 gan ! He wheedles thee, Tom ; and to serve 
 him thou leavest thy old mother. He and 
 the young lady, and that lass Grace build 
 houses for thee ; but a mother's curse will 
 pull them down." 
 
 " Mother, the baronet is my good friend: 
 his father gave mine the oat-field by the 
 shore : his grandfather saved mine from 
 
WALLADMOR. 29 
 
 death in Canada: and the Walladmors 
 have still been good masters ; and we have 
 still been faithful servants : and, let the 
 white hats say what they will, — them that 
 the quahty calls radicals, — my notion is 
 that people should stick to their old mas- 
 ters, and be true to them ; and that's best 
 for both sides." 
 
 " Go, get thee gone to thy boat, — false- 
 hearted lad; snakes will rear their heads 
 out of the water, and seize on him that 
 honoureth not his parents and that forget- 
 teth his brother ! " 
 
 Without shewing the least displeasure at 
 these angry words, Tom took his leave; 
 and the old woman now addressed herself in 
 good earnest to the task of preparing the 
 cordial for the young stranger. He mean- 
 time had gradually recovered his entire 
 self-possession; and from the conversation 
 between mother and son, most of which he 
 understood, he had drawn conclusions which 
 tended more and more to alarm him at his 
 
30 WALLADMOR, 
 
 total loss of power over his limbs. From 
 the expressions of the old woman, which 
 marked an entire indifference about him, 
 he anticipated that she would be apt to 
 mistake his aj)parent want of animation for 
 a real one ; and busied himself with all the 
 horrors which such an error might occasion. 
 But he was mistaken. The old woman 
 followed the directions of her son to the let- 
 ter. When her preparations were finished, 
 a pleasant odour began to diffuse itself over 
 the house ; she drew near to the sick 
 stranger; and rubbed his breast with a 
 handful of the liquor. Almost immedi- 
 ately he felt the genial effects : the muscles 
 of his face relaxed; he breathed more freely; 
 his lips opened ; and she poured a few 
 spoonfuls of the cordial down his throat. 
 Then WTapping him up in blankets, she 
 raised him with a strength like that of a 
 stout man rather than of an aged woman, 
 and laid him down by the fire-side. Here 
 the cordial, combined with previous exhaus- 
 
WALLADMOR. 31 
 
 ^tion and agitation, and the genial warmth 
 of the fire, soon threw him into a profonnd 
 sleep. He slept as powerless as a child 
 that is rocked hy its nurse, lulled by the 
 unintelligible songs which the old woman 
 continued to murmur to her spinning-wheel 
 — and which still echoed through his 
 dreams, though they had lost their power 
 to alarm him. 
 
 Some hours he had slumbered, when he 
 suddenly awoke to perfect consciousness 
 and (what gave him still greater satisfac- 
 tion) to the entire command of his limbs. 
 He unswathed himself from his blankets ; 
 stood upright on his feet ; and felt a lively 
 sense of power and freedom as he was once 
 more able to stretch out his arms and legs. 
 In the house all was silent. The fire upon 
 the hearth was glimmering with a sullen 
 glow of red light ; and it appeared to be 
 about day-break ; window there was none ; 
 but through a sort of narrow loop-hole pe- 
 netrated a grey beam of early light. This 
 
32 WALLADMOR. 
 
 however lent no aspect of cheerfulness to 
 the hut. On the contrary, the ruddy blaze 
 of a fire had given a more human and ha- 
 bitable (though at the same time more pic- 
 turesque) air to a dwelling which seemed 
 expressly contrived to shut out the sun and 
 the revelations of day light. — Looking 
 round, he observed that the old woman was 
 asleep : he drew near and touched her : she 
 did not however awaken under the firmest 
 pressure of his hand ; but still in dreams 
 continued at intervals to mutter, and to croon 
 snatches of old songs. 
 
 An instinctive feeling convinced Bertram 
 that he was a prisoner, and that it would be 
 advisable for him to quit the hut clan- 
 destinely : this purpose he prepared to 
 execute as speedily as possible. Without 
 delay he caught up his portmanteau and 
 advanced to the door. It cost him no great 
 trouble to find the bolts, and to draw them 
 without noise. But, on opening the door 
 and shutting it behind him, he found him- 
 
WALLADMOR. 33 
 
 self in fresh perplexity ; for orl all sides he 
 was surrounded by precipitous banks of 
 earth, and the faint light of early dawn de- 
 scended as into a vault through a perforated 
 ceiling. However he discovered in one 
 corner a rude ladder, by means of which he 
 mounted aloft, and now found that the 
 roof of this vault consisted of overarching 
 eglantine, thorn bushes, furze, and a thick 
 growth of weeds and tangled underwood. 
 From this he soon disengaged himself: 
 turning round and finding that the hut had 
 totally disappeared from sight, he now 
 perceived that the main body of the build- 
 ing was concealed in a sort of cleft or small 
 deserted quarry, whilst its roof, irregularly 
 covered over with mosses and wild plants, 
 was sufficiently harmonized with the sur- 
 rounding brakes, and in some places actually 
 interlaced with them, effectually to prevent 
 all suspicion of hmnan neighbom'hood. At 
 this moment a slight covering of snow as- 
 sisted the disguise : and in summer time a 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
S4 WALLADMOIL 
 
 thicket of wild cherry trees, woven into a 
 sort of fortification by an nndergrowth of 
 nettles, brambles, and thorns, snfficiently 
 protected the sj)ot from the scrutiny of the 
 curious. 
 
 Having wound his way through these 
 perplexities, he found his labour rewarded ; 
 for at a little distance before him lay the 
 main ocean. He stood upon the summit of 
 a shingly declivity which was slippery from 
 the recent storm, and intersected by nu- 
 merous channels ; so that he was obliged in 
 his descent to catch hold of the bushes to 
 save himself from falling. The sea was 
 still agitated ; the sky was covered with 
 scattered clouds ; and in the eastern quarter 
 the sun was just in the act of rising, — not 
 however in majestic serenity, but blood-red 
 and invested vdth a pomp of clouds, whicli 
 reflected from their iron-grey the dull ruddy 
 colors of the sun. 
 
 " When the sun rises red," said Bertram, 
 " it foreshows stormy weather. Have I 
 
WALLADMOE. 35 
 
 then not bad storms enough in this life ? " — 
 He looked down npon the sea, and saw the 
 waves as they rolled to shore bringing with 
 them spars, sails, cordage, &c., which either 
 dashed to pieces against the rocks, or by 
 the reflux of the waves w^ere carried back 
 into the sea. 
 
 " Strange ! " said he, " what has with 
 difficulty escaped the sea — after struggling 
 fruitlessly for preservation — is destroyed in 
 a moment or earned back into the scene of 
 its conflicts. Is not this the image of my 
 own lot ? With what mysterious yearning 
 did I long for England ! All the diffi- 
 culties which threatened me on the Con- 
 tinent I surmounted — only to struggle for 
 my life as I came within view of the Eng- 
 lish shores, to witness the barbarizing eflbcts 
 upon human kindness of death approaching 
 in its terrors, and at last perhaps to And 
 myself a helpless outcast summoned again 
 to face some new perils." 
 
 He still felt the effects of his late ex- 
 D 2 
 
36 WALLADMOE. 
 
 haustioii ; and, sitting down upon a large 
 stone, he threw his eyes over the steely sur- 
 face of the sea. Looking upwards again, — 
 he was shocked at beholding a few paces 
 from him the tall erect person of his hostess. 
 She stood upon a point of rock witli her 
 back to the sun, and intercepting his orb 
 from Bertram, so that her grey hair stream- 
 ing upon the wind, her red cloak which 
 seemed to be set as it were in the solar ra- 
 diance, and the lower part of her figure, 
 which was strongly relieved upon the tre- 
 mulous surface of the sea, gave to her a 
 more than usually wild and unearthly ap- 
 pearance. Bertram shuddered as before a 
 fiend ; whilst the old woman, by whose side 
 crept a large wolf-dog, said with an air of 
 authority : 
 
 **' So then I see the old proverb is true — 
 Swoe a drowning man, and bexvare of an 
 adders sting. But I have power : and can 
 punish the thankless heart. So rise, traitor, 
 and back to the house." 
 
WALI.ADMOR, ST 
 
 Bertram felt himself too much reduced m 
 spirits, and too little acquainted with the 
 neighbourhood, to contest the point at pre- 
 sent : he considered besides that he was 
 really indebted to her for attentions and 
 hospitality ; and was unwilling to appear in 
 the light of a thankless guest. In this 
 feeling he surrendered himself to her 
 guidance ; but to gratify his curiosity he 
 said — 
 
 " Good mother, I owe you much for my 
 recovery : but who is it that I must thank 
 for my deliverance from the water ? I was 
 lying upon a barrel, at the mercy of the 
 waves. I lost my senses ; and on recovering 
 I find myself with you, and . know not how, 
 or by whose compassion." 
 
 " What then ? You'll never be a hair 
 the drier for knowing thatT 
 
 " But, mother, I had a companion in my 
 misfortunes ; was he saved along with me ; 
 or have the waves parted us for ever ? " 
 
 " Never trouble yourself about that: yon 
 
38 
 
 AVALLADMOIl. 
 
 are saved ; that's news enough for one day : 
 — if the other fellow is drowned all the 
 better for liim ; hell not need hanging." 
 Here the old woman laughed scornfully, and 
 sang a song of which the burthen w^as 
 
 High is the gallows, the ocean is deep ; 
 
 One aloft, one below : how sound is their sleep ! 
 
 Bertram now descended a^ain into the 
 hovel: and, finding that the old woman woidd 
 answer no more questions, he stretched him- 
 self upon his bed ; and throughout the day 
 resigned himself to the rest which his late 
 exhaustion had rendered necessary. 
 
 From a slumber, into which he had 
 fallen towards evening, he was awaked 
 by a gentle pressure upon his arm. He 
 unclosed his eyes for one moment, but 
 shut them again immediately under the 
 dazzling glare of a resinous torch which the 
 old woman held. In his present situation 
 he thought it best to dissemble ; and there- 
 fore kept his eyes half closed, peering at the 
 same time from beneath his eve-lids and 
 
WALLADMOll. 39 
 
 watching the old Vv^oman's motions. She 
 was kneeling by the side of his bed : with 
 her left hand she raised aloft a torch ; with 
 her right she had raised a corner of the 
 blanket and was in the act of examining 
 his left arm, having stripped his shirt sleeve 
 above his elbow, and appearing at this mo- 
 ment to be in anxious search of some spot 
 or mark of recognition. Her whole attitude 
 and action betrayed a feverish agitation : 
 her dark eyes flashed with savage fire and 
 seemed as though straining out of their 
 sockets : and Bertram observed that she 
 trembled — a circumstance which strikingly 
 contrasted with the whole of her former de- 
 portment, which had discovered a firmness 
 and intrepidity very alien to her sex and age. 
 Presuming that her guest was asleep, the 
 old woman now transferred her examination 
 to his right arm, which lay doubled beneath 
 his body, and which she endeavoured gently 
 to draw out. Not succeeding in this, she 
 made an effort to turn him completely over. 
 
40 WALLADMOR. 
 
 To this effort however, without exactly 
 knowing why, Bertram opposed all the re- 
 sistance which he could without discovering 
 that he was awake : and the old woman, 
 unless she vvould rouse him up — which pro- 
 bably was not within her intention, found 
 herself obliged to desist. Her failure how- 
 ever seemed but to increase the fiendish 
 delirium which possessed her. She snatched 
 a blazing pine-bough from the fire ; stepped 
 into the centre of the room ; and, waving 
 her torch in fantastic circles about her head, 
 began a solemn chaunt in a language un- 
 known to Bertram — at first low and deep — 
 but gradually swelling into bolder intona- 
 tions. Towards the end the song became 
 more rapid and impetuous ; and at last it 
 terminated in a sort of wild shriek. Keep- 
 ing her eyes fixed upon Bertram, as if to 
 remark the effect of her song upon him, the 
 old woman prepared to repeat it : but just 
 at this moment was heard the sound of 
 voices' approaching. A wild hubbub sue- 
 
WALLADMOR. 41 
 
 ceeded of wrangling, laughing, swearing, 
 from the side on which Bertram had as- 
 cended the ladder ; and directly after a cla- 
 morous summons of knocking, pushing, 
 drumming, kicking, at the door. The aged 
 hostess, faithful to her custom, laid down 
 her pine-brand on the hearth ; arranged the 
 blanket again ; and seated herself quietly 
 without taking any notice of the noise. 
 Only, whilst she turned her spinning-wheel, 
 she sang in an under voice — 
 
 He, that knocks so loud, must knock once and again : 
 Knock soft and low, or ye knock in vain. 
 
 Mean time the clamorers without contrived 
 to admit themselves, as the young man had 
 done before, but did not take the delay so 
 patiently. It was a company of five or six 
 stout men, any of whom (to judge by their 
 appearance) a traveller would not have been 
 ambitious of meeting in a lonely situation. 
 The general air of their costume was that 
 of sea-faring men ; close, short jackets ; 
 long, roomy, slops ; and coloured handker- 
 
42 M^VLLADMOR. 
 
 chiefs tied loosely about the neck, aiul de- 
 pending in long flaps below the breast. A 
 fisherman's hat, with large slouched brim, 
 was drawn down so as nearly to conceal the 
 face ; all wore side-arms ; and some had 
 pistols in their belts. In colours their dress 
 presented no air of national distinction : for 
 the most part it seemed to be composed of 
 a coarse sacking — originally gray, but dis- 
 figured by every variety of stains blended 
 and mottled by rain and salt water. 
 
 Bertram could discover no marks of rank 
 or precedency amongst these men, as they 
 passed him one by one, each turning aside 
 to throw a searching glance on the ap- 
 parently sleeping stranger. As they ad- 
 vanced to the old woman, they began to 
 scold her : so at least Bertram gathered 
 from their looks, gestures, and angry tones; 
 for they spoke in a language witli which 
 he was wholly unacquainted. 8he, whom 
 they addressed, however seemed tolerably 
 familiarized to this mode of salutation ; for 
 
WALLADMOE, 43 
 
 she neither betrayed any discomposure in 
 her answers, nor ever honoured them by 
 raising her eyes to their faces, but tranquilly 
 pursued her labours at the spinning-wheel. 
 It was pretty evident that the aged woman 
 exercised a very remarkable influence and 
 some degree of authority over these rough 
 seamen. She allowed them to run on with 
 their peal of angry complaint ; and, as soon 
 as the volley was over, she started up to 
 her feet with an authoritative air — and 
 uttered a few words which, interpreted by 
 such gestures as hers, would have been un- 
 derstood by a deaf man as words of com- 
 mand that looked for no disobedience. 
 
 Tlic men muttered, swore a little, and 
 cursed a little ; and then sitting down in 
 any order and place, just as every man 
 happened to find a seat, made preparations 
 for a meal such as circumstances allowed. 
 Broth was simmering on the fire : from 
 various baskets w^ere produced bread — ship- 
 biscuit — and brandy; dried haddock and 
 
44 WAL>ADMOR, 
 
 sprats were taken down from the chimney ; 
 fresh herrings were boiling ; and in no long 
 space of time the whole wealth of the hut, 
 together with no small addition imported 
 by the new-comers, seemed in a fair way of 
 extinction. Bertram felt violently irritated 
 by appetite to jmnp up and join the 
 banqueters : for this was the second night 
 since his shipwreck, and he was beginning 
 to recover from his fatigues. But doubts 
 and irresolution checked him ; and a mis- 
 giving that this was not the most favourable 
 moment for such an experiment ; especially 
 as he perceived that he himself was the 
 subject of general conversation. Without 
 relaxing in their genial labours, the men 
 showed sufficiently by their looks and ges- 
 tures that they were deliberating on some 
 question connected with himself. The old 
 woman now and then interposed a word ; 
 and the name of Nicholas, as Bertram re- 
 marked, was often repeated by all parties. 
 Some person of this name continued to 
 
WALLADMOK. 45 
 
 occupy the conversation an hour longer. 
 Frequently it happened that one or other 
 of the company uttered an oath in Eng- 
 lish or Dutch, and seemed disposed to 
 pursue the conversation in one of those 
 languages ; but in such cases the old woman 
 never failed to check him either by signs 
 or in her own language which was wholly 
 unintelligible to Bertram : so that of the 
 entire conversation he could make out 
 nothing more than that it related to him- 
 self. After the lapse of about an hour, the 
 whole party retired ; and the hut was again 
 restored to its former solitude and quiet. 
 
WALLADMOK. 47 
 
 CHAPTER lir. 
 
 This Idler here wol prechen us soniwhat. 
 
 " Nay by my father's soule, that shal he nat," 
 Say tie the Shipman, " here shal he nat preche ; 
 He shal no gospel glosen here ne teche : 
 "\\'e leven all in the gret God, quod he. 
 He wolde sowen som difficultee, 
 Or springen cockle in our clenecome." — Chaucer. 
 
 As soou as the last echo of the retreating 
 footsteps had died away, Bertram raised 
 himself up from his couch ; and playing 
 the part of one just in the act of awaking, 
 he yawned and asked for something to eat 
 and drink. The old woman grumbled, and 
 fetched him the remains of a jug of vvhiskey 
 with some biscuit and fish — never troubling 
 herself to inquire about the palateableuess 
 of these viands. Bertram ate and drank 
 with as little scrupulousness as belonged to 
 his situation ; and then, finding his spirits 
 somewhat restored, he began to question 
 his hostess afresh :~ 
 
4)8 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Good mother, I know not whether I 
 was dreaming or half awake ; hut it seemed 
 to me that there w^ere fishermen or some 
 such people in the house; and that the 
 refreshment I have just taken came from 
 their table." 
 
 " Aye," said the old woman drily, " they 
 can find time to dream that do little with 
 their hands." 
 
 " But what would you have me do, my 
 good hostess ? Have you any work for me ?" 
 
 The old w^oman shook her head. 
 
 " Well then, give me the means of going 
 where I have something to do." 
 
 " And w4iere is that ? " 
 
 " The coast of Wales, for w'hich I was 
 bound when I met with my misfortune." 
 
 " The coast of Wales ? Never trouble it : 
 they've rogues enough already." Then, 
 fixing her eyes steadily on Bertram, she 
 looked thoughtfully ; and shook her head : 
 " Were you ever in Wales before ?" 
 
 '' Never." 
 
WALLADMOR. 49 
 
 «* Look well to yourself then." 
 
 ^' And why?" 
 
 " The gallows is high, my bonny lad; and 
 they don*t stand much upon ceremony." 
 
 " What is it then you take me for ? Am 
 I like a thief or a robber ? " 
 
 " I know not : but you've a wicked look 
 of one that I know well ; and he's doomed 
 to the gallows, if there's a gallows in 
 England." 
 
 The old woman now relapsed into her 
 moody silence, or answered only by peevish 
 monosyllables : and, despairing of gaining 
 any further information from her, Bertram 
 contented himself with requesting that she 
 would acquaint him with the first oppor- 
 tunity which might offer for quitting his 
 present abode ; upon which his hostess 
 muttered something in no very cordial or 
 acquiescing tone ; and Bertram, drawing 
 the blankets about him, resigned himself 
 to the consideration of his present prospects. 
 He was now so much recovered from his late 
 
 VOL. L E 
 
50 WALLADMOR. 
 
 suffering and exhaustion, that he felt pre- 
 pared to set his hostess and her wolf-dog at 
 defiance ; but the scene, which he had just 
 witnessed, suggested another kind of dan- 
 gers. He feared that he had been thrown 
 on a nest of smugglers, or worse : some 
 piratical attempts had recently been made 
 on the Belgian flag off Antwerp : the 
 parties concerned were said to be smugglers 
 occupying some rock or islet off the coast 
 of Wales : and into their hands Bertram 
 began to fear that he had fallen. Closing 
 his eyes, he continued to ruminate on these 
 possibilities, until at length he dropped 
 into a slumber. 
 
 From this he was awakened in the middle 
 of the night by a hand laid roughly on his 
 shoulder. He stared up and beheld the old 
 woman at his bed-side. 
 
 " Get up," said she, " or it will be too 
 late. Yonder's a French captain taking 
 water aboard : make haste, and he'll give 
 you a passage." 
 
WALLADMOR. 51 
 
 Bertram sprang from his couch ; recom- 
 pensed his hostess ; and hastily prepared 
 for departure. In the midst of this hurry 
 however his thoughts had leisure to revert 
 to those anxieties which had occupied him 
 as he was falling asleep. Who was this 
 French captain? Whither bound? What 
 was his connexion with those in whose 
 hands he now found himself? On what 
 terms, and with what motives, had they 
 treated for his passage ? When all is dark- 
 ness however, the benighted traveller sur- 
 renders himself to the guidance of any light 
 — though possibly no more than a wildering 
 ignis fatuus — in the hope that it may lead 
 him out of his perplexities. And fortu- 
 nately Bertram had little time to pursue 
 any train of anxious deliberations : for at 
 this moment two seamen appeared at the 
 door with a summons to follow them ; the 
 French captain having taken his water 
 aboard, and being on the point of weighing 
 his anchor, 
 
 E 2 
 
52 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Having made up his mind to take his 
 chance, Bertram prepared cheerfully to 
 follow his conductors ; first offering his 
 acknowledgments however, in few words, to 
 his ancient hostess, who on her part mut- 
 tered some indistinct reply — mthout raising 
 her eyes, or quitting her usual posture at 
 the spinning-wheel. The night was pro- 
 foundly dark, even after they had cleared 
 the brush -wood and tangled thickets which 
 smothered up the rocky vault : the weather 
 however was calm ; a star or two gleamed 
 out from the thick pall of clouds ; and the 
 sea broke upon the coast mth no more than 
 its ordinary thunders. Supported by his 
 two guides, Bertram easily contrived to 
 slide down the shingly precipice ; and on 
 reaching the bottom, crossed the beach and 
 stepped on board a very large twelve-oared 
 boat heavily laden. In the bottom were 
 lying a number of casks and bales : and she 
 was full of men. But what particularly 
 struck Bertram was the gloomy silence 
 
WALLADMOR. 53 
 
 which prevailed — so opposite to the spirit 
 of life and gaiety which usually attend the 
 embarkation of sailors. 
 
 Whilst the boat was now cutting her way 
 through the waves, and the monotonous 
 stroke of the oars broke upon the silence of 
 the night, Bertram had leisure to renew his 
 speculations upon the nature of his imme- 
 diate prospects. A slight circumstance gave 
 them a favourable color : — at this moment a 
 night-breeze was sweeping pretty freshly 
 over the water ; and Bertram, who had pre- 
 served but a slender wardrobe from his ship- 
 wreck, felt its influence so much that he 
 shivered from head to foot. This was not 
 unobserved : and one of the men drew out 
 a large woollen boat-cloak, and wrapped it 
 about him with an air of surly good-nature. 
 This was a trifle, but it indicated that he 
 had fallen amongst human hearts : and it is 
 benignly arranged by Providence that, as in 
 this life " trifles light as air " furnish the 
 food of our fears, our jealousies, and un- 
 
54 WALLADMOK. 
 
 happy suspicions, — so also oftentimes from 
 trifles of no higher character we draw 
 much of our comfort, our hopes, and as- 
 surance, f 
 
 Although the boat was rowed stoutly, 
 yet — being very deeply laden — nearly an 
 hour elapsed before she fell alongside the 
 French caj)tain. A solitary lanthorn or 
 two were twinkling from the sides ; and 
 they were hailed by the party who i had 
 the watch, with a — " Qui va la ? " uttered 
 however, as Bertram remarked, in a cautious 
 and subdued tone. To this challenge the 
 boat returned for answer — " Fecheurs du 
 Roi et de la Sainte Vierge ;" upon which 
 rope-ladders were dropped ; the boat's'com^ 
 pany ascended ; and the barrels, &c. were 
 hoisted up by pullies to the deck. Bertram 
 admired the activity, address, and p^fect 
 orderliness, with which so many heavy 
 casks were raised above the decks and then 
 lowered into their several stations ; at the 
 same time that he could not but suspect^ 
 
WALLADMOR. 55 
 
 from their number and appearance, that the 
 bushiess of " watering " was not the only- 
 one which had induced the French captain 
 to drop his anchor at this point. It tended 
 however somewhat to abate these suspicions 
 — that, by the flashes of the lanthorns, as 
 they played unsteadily upon the guns, 
 anchors, and tackling of the vessel, he 
 could distinguish the lilies of France : and 
 upon inquiry from the helmsman, who spoke 
 to him however in English, he learned that 
 he was on board a French corvette — Les 
 troisjieurs de lys. 
 
 At this moment the wind veered a point ; 
 and instantly a voice of thunder was heard 
 exclaiming 
 
 " Mort de ma me ! look sharp : by the 
 three names of Satan, I'll send you a 
 message else from this little brace of bull- 
 dogs : you there at the foresheet, — be handy, 
 will you ? Or by our lady I'll nail you to 
 the mast, until the, cormorants have made 
 their breakfast." 
 
56 WALLADMOR. 
 
 All was now life and activity : the sails 
 were bent and furled : men and boys were 
 crawling about every part of the rigging: 
 the helmsman took his quiet station : and 
 just as day began to break, the " Trois 
 fleurs de lys," with all sails set, was running 
 gaily before a fresh breeze of wind. She 
 had made a good deal of way before there 
 was light enough for Bertram to examine 
 the coast he was leaving ; and, by the time 
 he became able to use his eyes with effect, 
 all the details by which it was possible to 
 have identified the exact situation of his 
 late confinement were obliterated and melted 
 into indistinct haze which preserved only 
 the great outlines of the coast : in these the 
 principal feature was a bold headland ; and 
 within that a pretty deep bay. 
 
 " What is that promontory called ?" said 
 Bertram, addressing an old sailor who was 
 passing him at the moment. 
 
 " What— ^^^^ right a helm ? " said the 
 sailor. 
 
WALLADMOK. 57 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " They call that Lubber's Point." 
 
 " And what do you call the bay beyond?" 
 
 " The bay ? Why Buttermilk bay : and 
 t'other horn to leward is Cape Sugarcandy." 
 
 So saying, the old sailor hitched his trow- 
 sers ; and with perfect gravity passed on — 
 leaving Bertram not much in his debt for 
 any accessions to his geographical know- 
 ledge. He had no leisure however to ru- 
 minate on this little specimen of nautical 
 gaiety ; for just at this moment up rolled a 
 brawny thick- set figure, and without any 
 ceremonies of introduction or salutation 
 spoke to him — or rather spoke at him — 
 thus : 
 
 " So ! — This is the son of a gun that was 
 asking for a passage ? " 
 
 The lordly step and gay confidence of eye 
 sufficiently announced to Bertram that he 
 who addressed him was the captain of the 
 ship : apart from which claims of rank, he 
 was striking enough by mere personal ap- 
 
58 AVALLADMOK. 
 
 pearaiice to have commanded the homage 
 of very particular attention from any judi- 
 cious spectator. His figure was short, broad, 
 and prodigiously muscular; his limbs, though 
 stunted, appearing knotty and (in wood- 
 man's language) gnarled ; at the same time 
 tliat the trunk of his body was lusty — and, 
 for a seaman, somewhat unwieldy. In age 
 he seemed nearer to seventy than sixty ; but 
 still manifested an unusual strength hard- 
 ened to the temper of steel by constant ex- 
 posure to the elements and by a life of acti- 
 vity. The colour of his hair was probably 
 w^hite ; that is, pei' se, and with reference to 
 its absolute or fundamental base ; but by 
 smoke and neglect it had been tarnished 
 into grim upper strata of rusty grey and 
 sullen yellow — which, contrasted with a 
 broad fiery disk of face — harsh bushy eye- 
 brows — and a Bardolph nose, effectually ex- 
 tinguished all ideas of the venerable which 
 might else have been suggested by his age. 
 A pair of keen grey eyes looked out from a 
 
WALLADMOK. 59 
 
 mass of flesh in which they were sunk ; md 
 by their cat-hke glances showed pretty 
 clearly that in the hour of danger and con- 
 flict they could awaken into another sort of 
 expression more characteristic of the man ; 
 an expression however, which, in this 
 " piping time of peace " and in the hours of 
 his gentle morning potations, was coptent 
 habitually to slumber. The Captain's gait we 
 have described as "rolHng ;" which in fact it 
 was ; but without meaning at all, by that ex- 
 pression, to derogate from its firmness : for 
 firm it also was as the tread of a hippopo- 
 tamus ; and wheresoever the sole of his vast 
 splay foot was planted, there a man would 
 have sworn it had taken root like a young 
 oak : but a figure as broad as his could do 
 no other than roll when treading the deck 
 of avessel that was ploughing through a gay 
 tumbling sea. As to dress, the Captain 
 wore long slops of striped linen ; stout shoes; 
 and immense shoe-buckles: but for the 
 upper part of his costume, in spite of his 
 
60 WALLADMOR. 
 
 official dignity, he chose to sport — instead 
 of the long uniform coat of a French captain, 
 a short blue jacket worn over a red waist- 
 coat ; to which last was attached a broad 
 leathern belt bearing a brace of pistols ; and 
 depending from the belt by a short chain 
 he carried a Turkish scymeter in a silver 
 scabbard. Upon his head only could he be 
 said to wear any mark of distinction that 
 proclaimed his rank ; for upon his hat — 
 which was a round one like that of all 
 the crew, and slouched like theirs, but a 
 little higher, — he advanced, by way of cock- 
 ade (and as a badge at once of the national 
 flag he hoisted and of his own rank), a very 
 conspicuous white lily. 
 
 Such was the portly personage that now 
 came up to Bertram, or rather shouldered 
 him in passing, and summoned him as it 
 seemed to face about by demanding in the 
 voice of a S ten tor : — 
 
 " So ! — this is the son of a gun that was 
 asking for a passage?" 
 
WALLADMOR. 6l 
 
 Bertram turned to face the Captain's side, 
 made his bow, and modestly repHed that 
 he xvas the person who had been a candidate 
 for that honour. 
 
 Without altering his oblique position, 
 the Captain slightly turned his head, care- 
 lessly glanced his eye over Bertram's person, 
 and replied thus : 
 
 " So ! — Humph ! — Damn ! — And where 
 do you want to go ashore ? " 
 
 "At Bristol," said Bertram, " or any 
 place on the coast of Wales." 
 
 " Bristol ?— the devil ! Coast of Wales ? 
 The devil's grandmother ! Was the like 
 ever heard ?— Captain le Harnois to alter 
 his course, the Trois Jieurs de lys to tack 
 and wear — drop her anchor and weigh her 
 anchor, for a smock-faced vagabond ? " 
 
 " But 1 thought. Sir, — that is, I under- 
 stood, — that the Fleurs de lys was ex- 
 pressly purposing to cruize off the Welch 
 coast ? 
 
 " Expressly purposing a tobacco-box ! — 
 
62 WALLADMOR. 
 
 I tell you what, Tom Drum : there's a 
 
 d d deal too many rogues running about 
 
 these seas — a d d deal ; and the English 
 
 police is no great shakes of a police that 
 doesn't look more sharply after them : — 
 Who the devil are you ? " 
 
 Bertram was preparing to answer this 
 unceremonious question ; but the Captain 
 interrupted him — 
 
 " Aye : I can see with half an eye ; an 
 Abram man ; a mumper ; a knight of the 
 post ; that jumps up behind coaches, and 
 cuts the straps of portmanteaus : steals into 
 houses in the dusk : waylays poor old people 
 and women, to rob them of their rags and 
 their halfpence. For as to the highway, 
 and cutting throats, I think he has hardly 
 metal for that. Or may be he's a juggler ; 
 a rope-dancer ; and plays off his hocus pocus 
 on people's pockets? " 
 
 '^ Upon my word. Captain, you put un- 
 speakable wrong upon me." 
 
WALLADMOR. 63 
 
 " With all my heart : God give you 
 health to wear it!" 
 
 Touched to the quick by these affronts, 
 Bertram drew out his pocket-book ; and 
 taking out some papers, he presented them 
 with all the hauteur he could assume to 
 the Captain ; saying, at the same time — 
 
 " If, Sir, you will do me the honour to 
 run your eye over my passport and the 
 certificates annexed, I am disposed to think 
 that I shall not need any further vindica- 
 tion from the suspicions you are pleased to 
 intimate." 
 
 " Toll-de-roll-loU !"' said Captain le Har- 
 nois : " what's this trumpery ? Whose pot- 
 hooks are these ? " At the same time neg- 
 ligently unfolding the papers, and tearing 
 several by his coarse way of handling them. 
 He threw a hasty glance over one or two : 
 but it struck Bertram that he was holding 
 them upside down. Be that as it mighty 
 — after tumbling, mumbling, and tear- 
 ing one document after another, — the noble 
 Captain tossed them all on the deck, advanced 
 
64 WALLADMOR. 
 
 the broad extiuguisher of his foot upon— 
 them — blew out a cloud of breath into 
 the morning air, and exclaimed — 
 
 " Pooh — pooh! Tom Drum: Lillibullero i 
 'Twon't do : — forged papers ! Never think 
 to put off your rogue's tricks on Captain 
 le Harnois." 80 saying he rolled off to 
 complete his quarter-deck turn, preparing 
 however to open his fire again when he 
 came upon the other tack. 
 
 Bertram's indignation was natiu:ally great 
 at what he viewed as an unprovoked out- 
 rage ; and in spite of his precarious situa- 
 tion, and though fidly aware that he was 
 in the Captain's power, he was on the point 
 of giving a loose to those feelings which 
 calumniated innocence is at all times privil- 
 eged to express — when the boatswain tap- 
 ped him on the shoulder and whispered in 
 his ear : 
 
 " Easy, master, easy : the Captain doesn't 
 mean all he says : he speaks worse than he 
 thinks, w^hen he has taken his breakfast 
 
\rALLADMOR. 65 
 
 rather early. He takes brandy to breakfast, 
 you understand. Twice a day he hauls his 
 wind, and speaks you as fair as a man could 
 wish ; just afore breakfast, that's once ; 
 your next time's just afore noon. Oh ! but 
 it's pleasant talking with the Captain then." 
 
 At this moment Captain le Harnois was 
 again bearing down ; and, just as he 
 brought his broadside to bear, Bertram - 
 who was in the act of gathering up his 
 scattered papers and replacing them in his 
 pocket-book — contented himself mth ob- 
 serving that on shore he hoped at least to 
 meet with some magistrate that would pay 
 more respect to papers regularly authenti- 
 cated. 
 
 " Shore magistrate ! " thundered the 
 Captain, " the dragon and his horns ! what's 
 a shore magistrate more than a salt-water 
 magistrate ? Mort de ma vie I I take it a 
 Captain's commission, with four ministers' 
 hands to it — signed and countersigned, 
 should be as good as a lubber's warrant. 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
66 WALLADMOR. 
 
 What talk to me of lawyers and justices? 
 The Fleurs de lys is as good a lawyer as I 
 know. Egad, when she shows her teeth" 
 (and here Captain le Harnois grinned 
 horribly, and showed his own which " after 
 thtir kind" were not less formidable),— 
 " Egad, she can lay down the law too : 
 egad, can she : aye and I've seen the day" 
 (and here the Captain chuckled in a fond- 
 ling tone), " I've seen the day tliat tlie 
 little wanton devil has made law: and 
 
 d d good lav^^ it was ; though some said 
 
 not — blast their eyes !" 
 
 To all this Bertram was silent : and 
 Captain le Harnois, pursuing his tender 
 remembrances, broke out afresh : 
 
 " Ah the pretty little vengeful devil !— 
 
 Ha! ha! ha! I remember butd n 
 
 me, if that's not the very thing that Master 
 Tommy here is thinking of. He has heard 
 that story ; or some other as good ; and 
 that's what he means by singing out for 
 shore law. But, youngster, I'd have you 
 
WALLADMOR. ()7 
 
 to know thafs all over : that score's rubbed 
 
 out ; and the Uttle frisky gipsy (d- n 
 
 her for a little hardened devil !) has got her 
 pardon . All's right now : her decks are 
 washed : she has a chaplain on board ; and 
 she carries the flag of His Most Christian 
 Majesty." 
 
 " Indeed !" said Bertram. 
 
 " Aye indeed, most venerable youth ; the 
 flag of Louis le Desire, do you hear? 
 Have you any thing to say against that ? 
 What does Smock -face think of the Bour- 
 bons ? Is Smock-face not a good subject ? 
 Eh ? " 
 
 " Captain le Harnois, I am neither a 
 French subject by birth ; nor in any respect 
 indebted to the French government ; nor 
 owe it any obedience. On which account 
 I am sure you will see the propriety of 
 dispensing with any declaration of my 
 political sentiments in this matter." 
 
 *' What, what, what ? not Bourbonish ? 
 Oh ! but that's a foul fault, master Tommv. 
 
68 WALLADMOR. 
 
 My ship— (d n her for a little vixen I 
 
 she doesn't know what she'd be at !) — My 
 ship, she's Bourhonish : /'m Bourhonish : 
 my lads — they've Bourhonish : we're all 
 Bourhonish : and I'll have nohody swabbing 
 my deck, that's not Bourhonish." 
 
 " I congratiUate myself," said Bertram, 
 *' on sailing with so loyal a subject of his 
 Most Christian Majesty." 
 
 " Aye, thafs soon said. But, if young- 
 ster is not Bourhonish, is he not liberal 
 neither?" 
 
 " Such are my unfortunate circumstances, 
 Captain le Harnois, that at present it is 
 wholly out of my power to be liberal : I 
 really ." 
 
 " Come, thafs well however : glad of 
 that : that's something, my shy cock : any 
 thing but a liberal or a constitutional. Cut 
 portmanteau-straps; waylay old women; 
 hocus pocus ; any thing you like. But I'll 
 have no liberal doings here : no liberality 
 .shall be found on board of me, whilst my 
 
WALLADMOR. 69 
 
 name's le Harnois. Damn ! I've a character 
 to support. 
 
 " I believe we mistake each other : there 
 are different sorts of liberahty ; and what I 
 meant to say was 
 
 " I care nothing about it : it signifies no- 
 thing talking about sorts of liberality : I'll 
 have no sort. — And now, pray, what religion 
 are you of? Has Smock-face no religion, eh ?" 
 
 " Really, Captain le Harnois, it does 
 appear to me, that no man is authorized or 
 commissioned, merely upon the strength of 
 flinging a rope to a drowning man, or afford- 
 ing him some common office of humanity, 
 to institute an inquiry into his religious 
 creed." 
 
 " Oh crimini ! Not commissioned ? By 
 my commission I'm to lay hold of every 
 man that has any thing to say against 
 his Most Christian Majesty — the CathoHc 
 faith — or our Lady. My commission is that 
 I'm to overhaul every man's religion. And 
 as to what younker says about flinging a 
 
70 W'ALLADMOR. 
 
 rope, — a rope's end for it ! If I fling a 
 rope to a drowning man and he lays bold of 
 it, by my commission I'm to say — Aboy 
 tbere, waterfowl, are you religious-? Is your 
 religion so and so ? And, if be sings out 
 — No, my commission is to let go the rope 
 and to say — Then first of all get baptized 
 with salt water ; and, when that's done, 
 come and tell Captain le Harnois. Thafs 
 
 my commission. D n! I think I should 
 
 know what my commission is : d — n!*' 
 
 " But, Captain, you can surely make 
 allowances for my education : that may 
 have been unfortunate ; but still I profess 
 the most entire respect for the Romish 
 church and her adherents." 
 
 " Respect and be d d ! I'll have no 
 
 respect: Pli have religion— pure, neat, re- 
 ligion — with none of your Protestant water 
 
 in it, or d d half and half. My ship, a 
 
 little vixen, she^s religious : for I tell you 
 she's had her decks scrubbed by the chap- 
 Liin : Fva religious : ship's company's reli- 
 
WALLADMOK. 71 
 
 gioiis : we're all religious. And my pas- 
 sengers shall be religious: or my name's not 
 le Harnois. For my commission says, that 
 I'm to have none but the very best of 
 Christians aboard : prime articles, and none 
 else : no damaged lots." 
 
 Bertram was perfectly confounded at 
 hearing of such intense orthodoxy on board 
 a man of war : but he was disposed to 
 question the entire accuracy of the represen- 
 tation on chancing to observe, that all the 
 crew, who were behind the Captain's back, 
 were laughing as they went about their work. 
 Captain le Harnois himself seemed more 
 than half disposed to laugh at his own pic- 
 ture of the holy Fleurs de lys. But at this 
 moment he began to feel drowsy ; and, giv- 
 ing up for the present any further examina- 
 tion of his passenger's theology, he got un- 
 der weigh for his cabin : grumbling out, as 
 he advanced, but without looking back — 
 
 " Well : this '11 do for the first examina- 
 tion. And for our Lady's sake, and for the 
 
72 WALLADMOK. 
 
 honour of the white lily, Smockface may 
 bundle himself between decks — till the next 
 time that we pump ship; and then he 
 must over board with the bilge water. We 
 must be charitable now and then for our 
 Lady's sake. But let us have no irreligion. 
 Let all be handsome, lovely, Bourbonish, 
 and religious. What the d — 1 ! An irreli- 
 gious dog aboard Captain le Harnois ? But 
 I shall overhaul his principles : for that's 
 what my commission says : else my name's 
 not le Harnois : damn !" — With w^hich 
 emphatic monosyllable, ascending in a 
 growl from the bottom of the companion 
 ladder. Captain le Harnois concluded his 
 matins on the deck of the Fleurs de lys. 
 
 A roar of laughter followed liis final dis- 
 appearance; and a succession of songs, which 
 seemed any thing but " handsome, lovely,, 
 Bourbonish, or religious." 
 
WALLADMOll. 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Pist. Perpend my words, O Signieur Dew, and mark ; 
 O Signieur Dew, thou diest on point of fox, 
 Except, O Signieur, thou do give to me 
 Egregious ransome. 
 
 Fr. Sol. O prenez misericorde, ayez pitie de moy ! 
 
 Pis. ]\Ioy shall not sarve ; I will have forty moys. 
 
 Hen. F.—Act 4. 
 
 Spite of the Captain's absence, and 
 though there was no regular officer to repre- 
 sent him, Bertram was surprised to find that 
 the duty on deck seemed in no respect to 
 suffer — either in order, precision, or alacrity. 
 All were in full activity, moving with the 
 industry, and almost with the instinct of bees, 
 in the tops — among the shrouds — or on deck; 
 handling the ropes, trimming the sails, 
 sounding, and performing all other parts of 
 a vigilant seaman's duty. This seemed the 
 more remarkable, as most of the crew carried 
 a flask of brandy slung about their necks ; 
 very few of them choosing to justify the 
 
74< WALLADMOR. 
 
 Captain's flattering picture of their ortho- 
 doxy by substituting a rosary. 
 
 The steady old hehnsman, to whom Ber- 
 tram was communicating his astonishment, 
 replied — 
 
 " Aye, aye ; but this is nothing : you 
 should see them in a storm, or on a board- 
 ing party. There's not a man of 'em but 
 might take the Captain's place. And, for 
 that matter, the Captain might take any of 
 ours : for he's as good a seaman as ever stept 
 the deck. And once he was the handiest 
 among us all, and would take his turn 
 at any thing But now I know not 
 what's come to him. Ever since we were 
 made " regular," (you understand), and 
 crossed out of the king's black books, — and 
 since the captain got his commission, — it's 
 partly my belief that he's not right here" 
 (touching his forehead). " And no good 
 will come of it. For one hour we must be- 
 have pretty, and be upon honour, and, says 
 he, ' Lads, I must have you chained up, by 
 
WALLADMOR. 75 
 
 reason we're now a king's ship : and the 
 next hour he'll be laying his plots and his 
 plans for doing some business in the old line. 
 The Captain must have a spree now and 
 then. Ke couldn't be well without it. 
 Whereby it comes that, what between the 
 old way and the new way, a queer rum-look- 
 ing life we lead." 
 
 Of the business on board, however, though 
 interesting for a short period, Bertram 
 soon grew weary : and, stretching himself 
 at his length upon the deck, he gradually 
 withdrew his attention from every thing 
 that was going on about him to the contem- 
 plation of the sea and the distant shores 
 which he was approaching. The day, for 
 a winter's day, was bright and sunny : the 
 sky without a cloud ; the atmosphere of a 
 frosty clearness ; and the sea so calm, that 
 it appeared scarcely to swell into a ripple, 
 except immediately in the ship's wake. The 
 distant promontory, which he suspected to 
 be tlie point whither he had been washed by 
 
76 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 the waves, after the explosion of the Hal- 
 cyon, and which seemed the extremity of a 
 small island, had now receded into an azure 
 speck : the ship's course lay to the south- 
 ward or south-east: and on the larhoard 
 quarter a long line of coast trended away to 
 the south-west. A remarkable pile of rock 
 on this coast attracted his attention, and 
 rivetted his gaze as by some power of fasci- 
 nation. Who will refuse to sympathize with 
 the feeling which at this moment possessed 
 him ? What person of much sensibility or 
 reflection but has, in travelling, or on other 
 occasions, sometimes felt a dim and perplex- 
 ing sense of recognition awakened by cer- 
 tain objects or scenes which yet he had no 
 reason to believe that he could ever have seen 
 before? So it was with Bertram : a feeling of 
 painful perplexity disturbed and saddened 
 him as he gazed upon the coast before him: 
 he felt as though he had at some early 
 period of his life been familiar with some of 
 its features : which yet seemed impossible : 
 for he now understood from the helmsman 
 
WAI.LADMOR. 77 
 
 that what he saw were parts of the Caernar- 
 vonshire and Merionethshh-e coasts in the 
 neighbourhood of Pwlheli Bay. 
 
 The wind was fair, and the Fleurs de lys 
 carried so much sail, that within the next 
 hour the whole line of coast and bay began 
 to unfold itself ; and all the larger objects 
 were now becoming tolerably distinct. Of 
 these the most conspicuous was a lofty head- 
 land which threw its bold granite front in 
 advance of all the adjacent shore, and ran 
 out far into the sea. Like a diadem upon 
 its summit was planted an ancient castle ; 
 presenting a most interesting object to the 
 painter, if it were not in some respects rather 
 grotesque. It might truly be described as 
 '' planted : " for it seemed literally ^ natural 
 growth of the rock, and without division of 
 substance : it was indeed in many places 
 an excavation quarried into the rocks 
 rather than a superstructure upon it : and, 
 where this was not the case, the foun- 
 dations had yet been inlaid and dovetailed 
 
78 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 as it were so artificially into the splintered 
 crest of the rock, and the whole surface had 
 been for ages so completely harmonized in 
 colour by storms and accidents of climate, 
 that it was impossible to say where the hand 
 of art began or that of nature ended. The 
 whole building displayed a naked baronial 
 grandeur and disdain of ornament ; whatever 
 beauty it had — seeming to exist rather in 
 defiance of the intentions of its occupants and 
 as if won from those advantages of age and 
 situation which it had not been hi their power 
 to destroy. The main body of the building, 
 by following and adjusting itself to the out- 
 line of the rock, had of necessity taken the 
 arrangement of a vast system of towers and 
 quadrangles irregularly grouped and con- 
 nected : at intervals it was belted with turrets: 
 and its habitable character was chiefly pro- 
 claimed by the immense number of its win- 
 dows, and by a roof of deep red tiles ; which 
 last, though generally felt as a harsh blot in 
 the picturesque honours of the castle, were 
 
WALLADMOK. 79 
 
 however at this particular time lowered into 
 something like keeping by the warm ruddy 
 light of the morning sun which was now 
 glancing upon every window in the sea-front, 
 and also by the dusky scarlet of decaying 
 ferns which climbed all the neighbouring 
 hills and in many plains skirted the water's 
 edge. In what style of architecture the castle 
 was built, it would have been difficult to say : 
 it was neither exactly Gothic nor Italian of 
 the middle ages : and upon the whole it 
 might safely be referred to some rude and 
 remote age w^hich had aimed at nothing 
 more than availing itself of the local advan- 
 tages and the materials furnished by nature 
 on the spot for the pm*pose of constructing 
 a secure and imposing fortress ; without 
 any further regard to the rules or pedan- 
 tries of architecture. Attached to the main 
 building, which ascended to the height of 
 five stories — and yet did not seem dispro- 
 portionately high from the extent of its 
 range, were several smaller dependencies 
 
80 WALLADMOR. 
 
 — some of which appeared to be framed of 
 wood. The purists of our days, who are so 
 anxious to brush away all the wooden patch- 
 work and little tributary cells that formerly 
 clustered about the pillars and nooks of 
 cathedrals like so many swallows' nests, had 
 here apparently made no proselytes. And 
 on the whole the final impression was that 
 of a very venerable and antique but at the 
 same time rather fantastic building. 
 
 From each side of the promontory on 
 which the castle stood, ran off at right angles 
 a smaller promontory ; that, which was 
 on the left side as viewed from the sea, 
 though narrower and lower than the corres- 
 ponding one on the other side, terminated 
 however in a much larger area : and on 
 that consideration apparently, in spite of 
 its less commanding elevation, had been 
 selected as the station for a watch-tower. 
 This tower was circular; and in that respect 
 accurately fitted to the area or platform on 
 which it stood ; the platform itself being a 
 
WALLADMOIl. 81 
 
 table of rock at the summit of a rude colos- 
 sal cylinder which appeared to grow out of 
 the waves. The wdiole of this lateral pro- 
 cess from the main promontory presented a 
 most impressive object to a spectator ap- 
 proaching it from sea : for the connecting 
 part, which ran at right angles, from the 
 great promontory to the platform, had been 
 partly undermined ; originally perhaps by 
 some convulsion of nature : but latterly the 
 breach had been greatly widened by storms; 
 so that at length a vast aerial arch of gra- 
 nite was suspended over the waves : which 
 arch once giving away and falling in, the 
 rocky pillar and the watch-tower which 
 it carried would be left insulated in the 
 waves. 
 
 Bertram w^as more and more fascinated 
 by the aspect of the ancient castle and the 
 quiet hills behind it, with their silent 
 fields and woodlands, which lay basking as 
 it were in the morning sun. The whole 
 scene was at once gay and tranquil. The 
 
 VOL. I. G 
 
82 WALLADMOR. 
 
 sea had put off its terrors and wore the 
 beauty of a lake : the air was " frosty but 
 kindly:" and the shores of merry England, 
 which he now for the first time contem- 
 plated in peace and serenity, were dressed 
 in morning smiles ; a morning, it is true, 
 of winter ; yet of winter not angry — not 
 churlish and chiding — but of winter cheer- 
 ful and proclaiming welcome to Christmas. 
 The colours, which predominated, were of 
 autumnal warmth : the tawny ferns had 
 not been drenched and discoloured by rains; 
 the oaks retained their dying leaves : and, 
 even where the scene was most wintry, it was 
 cheerful : the forest of ported lances, which 
 the deciduous trees presented, were broken 
 pleasingly by the dark glittering leaves of 
 the holly ; and the massy gloom of the yew 
 and other evergreens was pierced and irra- 
 diated by the scarlet berries of various 
 shrubs, or by the puce-coloured branches 
 and the silvery stem of the birch. The 
 Fleurs de lys had gradually neared the 
 
WALLADMOR. 8S 
 
 shore ; and in the deep waters upon this 
 part of the coast there was so little danger 
 for a ship of much heavier burthen, that 
 she was now running down within pistol 
 shot of the scenery which Bertram contem- 
 plated with so much pleasure. He could 
 distinguish every cottage that lurked in the 
 nooks of the hills, as it sent up its light 
 vapoury column of smoke : here and there 
 he could see the dark hlue dresses of the 
 cottage. children : and occasionally a sound 
 of laughter or the tones of their innocent 
 voices, hetraying them to the ear where 
 they were not seen, — or the crowing of a 
 cock from, the bosom of some hamlet 
 
 .Vnswer'd by faintly echoing farms remote, 
 
 gave language and expression to the tran- 
 quil beauty of the spectacle. 
 
 Bertram absolutely shuddered, with the 
 feeling of one who treads upon a snake, as 
 he turned from these touching images of 
 human happiness to the grim tackling and 
 warlike furniture of the " little bloody 
 G 2 
 
84 WALLADMOR. 
 
 vixen" on board which he was embarked, 
 together with the ferocious though intelli- 
 gent aspects of her desperate crew. He was 
 already eager to be set ashore ; and the 
 sudden shock of contrast made him more so. 
 On communicating his wishes to the boat- 
 swain, however, he vvas honoured by a 
 broad stare and a laugh of derision : 
 
 " What," said the boatswain, " put you 
 ashore close under the muzzle of Walladmor 
 Castle ? " 
 
 " And whv not ? " 
 
 " Ask the Captain, my good lad : ask 
 Captain Jackson . " 
 
 " Jackson ! I thought the Captain's name 
 had been le Harnois." 
 
 " All's one for that: le Harnois or Jack- 
 son ; one name's as good as t'other. But I 
 would n't be the man to put you upon ask- 
 ing the Captain any such a thing. It's odds 
 but you'd be sent overboard, my good lad, 
 head over heels — that's to say on any day 
 when the Captain had taken his breakfast. 
 
WALLADMOR. S5? 
 
 No, no: high as it's perched up amongst 
 
 the eagle's nests, that d d old castle 
 
 has been the rock that many a good ship 
 has struck on. But wait till three or four 
 o'clock ; and then maybe we'll put you on 
 ashore further down." 
 
 When wishes are hopeless, the mind is 
 soon reconciled to give them up. Bertram 
 felt that his were so; and, contentedly 
 stretching himself again upon the deck, 
 surrendered his thoughts to the influence: 
 of the lovely scenery before him. 
 
 At length the sun was setting, and ano- 
 ther reach of coast had unfolded upon his 
 view, when all at once he heard the dash 
 of oars ; and on rising up, he observed a 
 little skiff rapidly nearing them. In a few 
 minutes she boarded the Fleurs cle lys : 
 and all was life and motion upon deck. 
 Casks and packages were interchanged ; 
 and private signals in abundance passed 
 between the diiferent parties. Bertram 
 took the opportunity of bargaining for a 
 
86 WALLADMOR. 
 
 passage to shore ; and was in tlie act of 
 stepping into the boat, when he was sud- 
 denly summoned before the Captain. 
 
 He found the old tiger on the quarter- 
 deck, and in one of his blander humoiu's. 
 Captain le Harnois was sitting on a coil of 
 rope, his back reclining against a carro- 
 nade, with a keg of brandy on the dexter 
 hand and a keg of whisky on the sinister. 
 An air of grim good humour was spread 
 over his features ; he had just awaked from 
 slumber ; was for a few minutes sober ; 
 and had possibly forgotten the hetero- 
 doxy of his passenger; wliom he saluted 
 thus : 
 
 " Well, sweet Sir, and how goes the 
 world w ith you ? " 
 
 " Captain le Harnois, I understand that 
 I can have a passage in the boat alongside ; 
 and I am really anxious to go ashore." 
 
 " Well, Tom, and what's to hinder it ? 
 The shore's big enough to hold you : and, 
 if it is n't, I can't make it bigger." 
 
WALLADMOR. 87 
 
 " Then, Captain, I have the honour to 
 wish you a very good evening." 
 
 " The same to you, Tom ; and I have 
 the honour, Tom, to drink your worship's 
 health." 
 
 '* I thank you, Sir; and perhaps you 
 will allow me to leave a trifle to drink for 
 the boat's crew that brought me aboard." 
 
 " Do, Tom, leave a trifle : I'll allow you 
 to put fifty francs down on this whisky 
 keg.- 
 
 " Fifty francs, Captain le Harnois ! Per- 
 mit me to remind you that I only came 
 aboard this morning, and that " 
 
 " Jessamy, it's no use talking : fifty 
 francs : we give no change here. And 
 what the d — 1 ? Would you think to treat 
 the crew of the Fleiirs de lys, four and forty 
 picked men, with less than sixty franks?" 
 
 " Sixty ! Captain, you said fifty." 
 
 " Did I ? Well, but that was the first 
 time of asking. Come, quick, — my young 
 gallant,, — or I shall hoist it up to seventy. 
 
88 WALLADMOR. 
 
 I say, boatswain, tell the smith to send me 
 a hammer and a few tenpenny nails : I've a 
 customer here that's wanting to cheat me ; 
 and I see I must nail him to the mast, be- 
 fore we shall balance books. But stop a 
 minute : I'll tell you what, Jessamy, — if 
 you'll enter aboard the F letups de lijs, 1 11 
 let you off for the money." 
 
 " I fear. Captain, that your work would 
 be too much for my constitution : I am 
 hardly strong enough to undertake such 
 severe duty." 
 
 " Not strong enough ? Oh ! the dragon ! 
 my darling, what should ail you? I'll 
 make you strong enough by to-morrow 
 morning. Just hang him up an hour to 
 the mast head, salt him, take him down, 
 pickle him, hoist him up in the main tops 
 to season, then give him some iiap-dragon 
 and biscuit, and 111 be bound there's not a 
 lubber that lives but will be cured into a 
 prime salt-w^ater article. But come, sixty 
 francs ! " 
 
WALLADMOR. 89 
 
 Bertram hesitated for a moment : during 
 which Captain le Harnois rose ; turned on 
 his heel ; placed himself astride the carro- 
 nade with a large goblet of brandy in his 
 right hand ; and with the air of an old 
 Cupid who was affecting to look amiable 
 and to warble, but in reality more like a 
 Boreas who was growling, he opened the 
 vast chasm of his mouth and began to sing 
 a sentimental love song. 
 
 Bertram perceived that, as the brandy 
 lowered, Captain le Harnois' demand would 
 be likely to rise; and therefore paid the 
 money without further demur. 
 
 " And now, my sweet boy," said Captain 
 le Harnois, " what do you think of the 
 Fleurs de lys ? Tight sea-boat ! is n't she, 
 and a little better managed than the Hal- 
 cyon, eh ? — Things go on in another guess 
 fashion here than they did on board your 
 
 d d steam boat ? Diiierent work on my 
 
 deck, eh ? " 
 
90 WALLADMOE. 
 
 " Very different work, indeed, Captain 
 le Harnois ! " 
 
 '^ Aye, a d d deal different, my boy. 
 
 I know what it is I'm speaking to, when I 
 
 speak to my lads : but I'm d d if a 
 
 man knows what he's speaking to, when he 
 speaks to a boiler." 
 
 During this speech Bertram was descend- 
 ing the ship's side : when he had seated 
 himself in the boat, he looked up ; and, 
 seeing the Captain lounging over the taffa- 
 rel, he said by way of parting speech — 
 
 " You are right, Captain le Harnois ; 
 perfectly right : and I shall always remem- 
 ber the very great difference I found be- 
 tween the Halcyon and the Fleurs de Lys." 
 
 The old ruffian grinned, and appeared to 
 comprehend and to enjoy the equivoque. 
 He was in no hurry to clear scores with 
 Bertram ; but leisurely pursued the boat 
 with a truculent leer ; nailed Bertram with 
 his eye ; and, when the boat was just within 
 
WALLADMOR. 91 
 
 proper range, he took his speakmg-trumpet 
 and hailed him : 
 
 " Tom Drum, ahoy ! — Take care now, 
 when you get ashore, where you begin your 
 old tricks — portmanteaus, old women, tum- 
 bling ; mind you don't begin hocus pocus 
 too soon : steer large, and leave Walladmor 
 Castle on the larboard tack : for there's an 
 old dragon in Walladmor that has one of 
 his eyes on you by this time. He's on the 
 look-out for you. So farewell : he's angling 
 for you. Good bye, my lily-white Tom ! 
 A handier lad has been caught than you, 
 Tom. So let the old women pass quietly, 
 till Walladmor's out of hearing. I can't 
 cry, Tom : but here's my blessing." 
 
 So saying Captain le Harnois drank up 
 his goblet of brandy ; and, tossing his heel- 
 taps contemptuously after the boat, rolled 
 away to his orgies at the carronade. And 
 in this manner terminated Bertram's con- 
 nexion with the Ti'ois Flews de lys. 
 
 It was not very agreeable to Bertram 
 
^2 WALLADMOE. 
 
 that the gallant Captain's farewell speech 
 had drawn the attention of all in the boat 
 upon himself, and in no very advantageous 
 way. Most of the party laughed pretty 
 freely : at the bottom of the boat lay a man 
 muffled up in a cloak, and apparently 
 asleep : but it appeared to Bertram that he 
 also was laughing. To relieve himself 
 from this distressing attention, he took out 
 his pocket-book and busied himself with 
 his pencil ; using it alternately for minut- 
 ing memoranda of the scene before him, or 
 sketching some of its more striking fea- 
 tures. These were at this moment irre- 
 sistibly captivating. The boat w^as gliding 
 through a sea unrippled by a breeze : the 
 w^ater w^as exquisitely clear and reflecting 
 the rich orange lights of the decaying sun- 
 set : a bold rocky shore was before him — 
 haunted by gulls and sea-m.ews, flights 
 of which last pursued the boat for the sake 
 of the refuse fish which Vvere occasionally 
 tossed overboard : behind the rockv screen 
 
WALLADMOR. 93 
 
 of the coast appeared a tumultuous assem- 
 blage of mountains, the remotest of which 
 melted away into a faint aerial blue : and 
 finally the boat's company itself, consisting 
 -of sailors rowing in their shirt-sleeves, fish- 
 ermen and their wives in dresses of deep 
 red and indigo, with the usual marine ad- 
 juncts of fish, tangle, sea-weed, &c. com- 
 posed a centre to the spectacle which inspi- 
 rited the whole by its rich colouring, group- 
 ing, and picturesque forms. The living 
 part of the contributors to this fine compo- 
 sition seemed hov/evefH)ut little aware of 
 their own share in the production of the 
 picturesque : for most of them were engaged 
 in amusing their fancies at the expense of 
 JBertram, whose motions had but given a 
 different turn to the satiric humour which 
 Captain le Harnois had called forth. One 
 old man, who sate opposite to Bertram, 
 laid aside his pipe, and said in an under 
 tone to his next neighbour : 
 
 " Well, in my life I never saw the man 
 
94 VY'ALLADMOR. 
 
 that brought as much to paper in a sum- 
 mer's day as youug master here has done in 
 one half hour ; he heats the parson and 
 'torney Williams all to nothing. But I see 
 how it is : they say Merlin wrote the His- 
 tory of Wales down to theday of judgment 
 upon these very rocks that lie right a-head : 
 and sure, if he did, there's somebody must 
 come to read it : and that must be young 
 master here. For you see he cocks his eye 
 at the rocks, as if he had some run goods in 
 his pocket, and was looking out for a signal 
 to come on shore. Look at him now ! Lord 
 how nimbly his rangers go ! One would 
 swear he beheved that all must be over 
 wdth this world, if he should stop above half 
 a minute. See, look at him ! there he goes 
 again ! " 
 
 " Aye," said another : " but I think he's 
 hardly writing Merlin's history: though it's 
 true enough that old saying about Merlin : 
 he wrote it all with his fore finger : and yet 
 they tell me it is cut as deep into the rock 
 
WALLADMOR. 95 
 
 * as if it had been done with chisel and mal- 
 let. But he must clear the moss off the 
 face of the rock before he'll read that. And 
 it's not every man that will read it when 
 that's done," 
 " Who then ? " 
 
 " Why none but a seventh son of a se- 
 venth son ; nor he neither, except in the 
 moonlight." 
 
 " Well, I know not," said the first 
 speaker : " but, as to this writing and read- 
 ing, I see little good it does. Lord ! to 
 think of these gentlefolks that come up to 
 Tan-y-bwlch and Festiniog in the summer 
 time like a shoal of herrings : I go with 
 scores of parties to Pont-aber-glas-Uyn . 
 Well, now, what should you think there 
 could be to write down consarning a great 
 cobble stone? or consarning a bit of a 
 shaw, or a puddle of water ? Yet there's 
 not one of the young quality but, as soon as 
 ever they get- sight of the Llyn, bless your 
 eyes ! they'll stand, and they'll Hft up their 
 
96 WALLADMOR. 
 
 hands, and they'll raise the whites of their 
 eyes, and skrike out to one another — that 
 it's awful to be near 'em/' 
 
 ^•' The d— 1 ! you don't say so ? " 
 
 " Aye, and then down they all sits : and 
 out comes their hooks : and the young gen- 
 tlemen holds their bits of umbrellas for the 
 ladies ; and away all their fingers are run- 
 ning like a dozen of harpers playing Morfa 
 Rhuddlam. And m-any's the time I've 
 seen 'em stand, whilst a man Avould walk a 
 mile and a half, staring up at widow Davis's 
 cottage that one can hardly see for the ivy, 
 and writing consarning it — that one would 
 think it was as old and as big as Harlich or 
 Walladmor. Gad I'll make bold some 
 summer to ask 'em w^hat they see about it : 
 for, as widow Davis said to me, ' i w^onder 
 w^hat they find on the outside ; for I never 
 could find any thing in the inside.' " 
 
 " And what do they do with their v^it- 
 ings w4ien they've penned 'em ? " 
 
 " God knows : I'm sure it's past my power 
 
WALLADMOR. 97 
 
 to think. For it's clear to me, Owen, that 
 a writ consarning a spring will never 
 quench a man's thirst. And as to these 
 limners that go about making a likeness of 
 the sea, why they'll never get a herring out 
 of it." 
 
 By this time the boat was running up a 
 narrow creek, which soon contracted into 
 the mouth of a little mountain brook. 
 Here the boat took the ground, and all on 
 board began to jump ashore — except Ber- 
 tram, who was lost in contemplation of the 
 long vista of mountains through which the 
 brook appeared to descend. From this ab- 
 straction he was at length awakened by the 
 voice of the old fisherman, who was mooring 
 the skiff, and drily asked him if he purposed 
 to go out to sea again in chace of Captain 
 le Harnois. At this summons he started 
 up, and was surprised to observe that his 
 companions were already dispersed, and go- 
 ing off through various avenues amongst 
 the mountains. The boat was quite empty ; 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
9B WALLADMOE. 
 
 and his own portmanteau even had been 
 carried out, and was lying on a stone. 
 
 " And now, my good friend," said Ber- 
 tram, " answer me one question — What is 
 the name of the nearest town ? For you 
 must know that I am quite a stranger in 
 these parts : in what direction does it lie ? 
 how far from this spot ? and which is the 
 direct road to it ? " 
 
 " One question ! why that's four ques- 
 tions, master ; and more by three than you 
 bargained for. However, as you're a stran- 
 ger, ril make shift to fit you with three short 
 answers that shall imlock your four riddles. 
 The nighest town is Machynleth ; and a 
 rum-looking town it is. It's just fifteen 
 miles off. And you can't miss it, if you 
 follow your nose by the side of this brook 
 till it leads you into yon pass amongst the 
 moimtain«." 
 
 " I'm much obliged to you, friend. But 
 is there any person you know of that could 
 guide me through this pass and carry my 
 portmanteau ? " 
 
WALLADMOR. 99 
 
 " Aye, master, I know of three such per- 
 sons." 
 
 " And where are they ? " 
 
 " Two of them are on board Captain le 
 Hamois : and the other " 
 
 " Is where ? " 
 
 " At Machynleth, and I'll warrant him 
 as drunk as he can go." 
 
 " And of what use will that be to me ? '* 
 
 " Nay, master, it's past my power to find 
 out: but you're a scholar, and can tell 
 more than I can." 
 
 Perceiving that he had got all the in- 
 formation from the old fisherman which he 
 was likely to get, Bertram wished him 
 good night ; and, hoisting his portmanteau 
 on his shoulder, set off in the direction 
 pointed out. 
 
 H 2 
 
WALLADMOR. 101 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Wher dwellen ye, if it to tellen be ? 
 
 In the subarbes of a town, quod he. 
 Lurking in hemes and in lanes blind 
 Whereas thise robbours and thise theves by kinde 
 Holden hir privee fereful residence 
 As they that dare not shewen hir presence, — 
 So faren we, if I shal say the sothe — Chaucer. 
 
 Bertram now found himself in a situa- 
 tion of some perplexity : he was alone ; per- 
 fectly unacquainted with the country ; it was 
 already dusk, and he had to make his way 
 through a labyrinth of hills which was likely 
 to present danger in more shapes than one r 
 his experience on board Captain le Harnois 
 had taught him that he was not perfectly 
 secure from behind ; and before him was a 
 mountainous region — better peopled in all 
 probability with precipices and torrents than 
 with human habitations. Under these cir- 
 cumstances he had to go in quest of a lodging 
 
102 WALLADMOR. 
 
 for the night ; and this, from all that he had 
 read of England, on a double account he 
 could scarcely venture to anticipate under any 
 respectable roof ; first because he was on foot, 
 and secondly because he canied his own port- 
 manteau. However he entered on his course 
 with spirit ; and for some time advanced 
 without much difficulty. The path mean- 
 dered away along the margin of the little 
 brook, diverging from it at times, but soon 
 winding back upon it. And as long as the 
 road continued to lie over the little common 
 which lay between the sea and the hills, the 
 light being here less intercepted and reflect- 
 ed more freely from the pellucid brook, he 
 had no difficulty in proceeding. But, when 
 he had reached the foot of the hills, and 
 found that the brook suddenly immerged 
 into a mountain ravine, he halted in utter 
 despondency. Looking back upon the shore, 
 which lay due West, he perceived that the 
 last faint blush of color liad died away in 
 the sky : a solemn veil of darkness had de- 
 
WALLADMOR. 103 
 
 scended over the sea ; even that was disap- 
 pearing ; and, within the narrow windings of 
 the hills upon which he was now entering, 
 the darkness of " chaos and old night" 
 seemed to brood. That his road would be 
 likely to lead him over precipices elevated 
 enough for all purposes of danger, he already 
 knew : for now and then the path began to 
 ascend pretty steeply from the edge of the 
 brook, though it soon again subsided to the 
 same level. All around him was the sound 
 of waters and of torrents : no ray of candle- 
 light or cheerful fire issued from any cottage 
 amongst the hills : he shouted, but received 
 no answer : and he sate down to deliberate 
 upon his situation. 
 
 Just at this moment it seemed to him that 
 he heard somewhere in his neighbourhood a 
 low muttering. He looked round : but it was 
 impossible to distinguish any object at more 
 than a few paces distance ; and, as he had re- 
 peatedly turned to look back in his road from 
 the sea, and had besides walked fast, he felt 
 
104 WALLADMOR. 
 
 convinced that no person could have dogged 
 him ; and was disposed to think that he had 
 been mistaken. TJic next minute however 
 the noise recurred : he rose and moved a 
 few paces onwards. Again he heard the 
 low muttering as of some person talking to 
 himself: in a moment after steps rang 
 upon the hard frosty ground as of a heavy 
 foot behind him ; and, before he could col- 
 lect his thoughts, a hand touched him on 
 the shoulder, and a deep-toned voice ex- 
 claimed — Halt ! 
 
 He had now no choice left but to face the 
 danger : he stopped therefore ; and, turning 
 round, he perceived close to his elbow a man 
 in no very respectable attire, so far as the 
 obscurity would allow him to judge, but 
 half muffled up in a cloak, and armed with 
 a stout bludgeon. IMuch as he had just 
 now been wishing for some guide, he yet 
 could not congratulate himself on so unpro- 
 pitious a rencontre. The stranger's dress 
 and unceremonious greeting were not more 
 
WALLADMOR. 105 
 
 suspicious than the abruptness of his appear- 
 ance : for Bertram felt convinced that he 
 must have way-laid him. Assuming how- 
 ever as much composure as he could, he de- 
 manded in a loud tone, 
 
 " Why did you not answer me when I 
 shouted just now ? You must have heard 
 me." 
 
 " Heard you ? " said the other, in a low 
 but remarkably firm and deep voice, — 
 " Heard you? Yes, I heard you well 
 enough : but who in his senses goes shouting 
 at night-time up and down a bye-road on a 
 smuggler's coast, as if he meant to waken 
 all the dogs and men in the country." 
 
 " Who ? why any man that has a good 
 conscience : what difference can the night 
 make?" 
 
 " Aye, that has ! But take my word 
 for it, friend, a man that comes ashore from 
 Jackson's brig may as well go quietly along 
 and say as little as possible about his con- 
 science. In this country they don't mind 
 
106 WALLADMOR. 
 
 much what a man says : many a gay fellow 
 to my knowledge has continued to give the 
 very best character of himself all the way 
 up the ladder of the new drop, and yet after 
 all has been nonsuited by Jack Ketch when 
 he got to the top of it for wanting so little 
 a matter as another witness or so to back 
 his own evidence." 
 
 " Well, but, I suppose, something must 
 be proved against a man, — some overt act 
 against the laws, before he can be suspected 
 in any country : till that is done, the pre- 
 sumption is that he is a respectable man : 
 and every judge will act on that presump- 
 tion." 
 
 " Yes, in books perhaps : but when a 
 running-fire of cross-examinations opens 
 from under some great wig, and one's blood 
 gets up, and one does n't well remember all 
 that one has said before,— I know not how 
 it is, but things are apt to take a different 
 turn." 
 
 ** Well, my rule is to steer wide of all 
 
WALLADMOR. 107 
 
 temptation to do ill ; and then a man will 
 carry his ship through in any waters." 
 
 " Will he ? Why, may be so ; and may 
 be not. There are such things as sunk 
 rocks : and it's not so easy to steer wide of 
 them: constables for instance, justices of 
 peace, lawyers, juries." 
 
 " But how came you to know that I was 
 put on shore from Jackson's brig ? " 
 
 " Why, to tell you a secret, it was I that 
 lay at the bottom of the boat, whilst your 
 learned self were writing notes in a pocket- 
 book.— But hush ! what's that ? " 
 
 He stopped suddenly ; looked cautiously 
 round ; and then went on : 
 
 " It was nothing, I believe. We may 
 go on ; but we must talk lower : in these 
 cursed times every stone has ears. Here wc 
 must cross the brook, and double the rock 
 on the left." 
 
 Whilst Bertram went on, he loitered a 
 few steps behind, and then cried out — " Do 
 you see any body ? " On receiving an an* 
 
108 WALLADMOR. 
 
 swer in the negative, he advanced ; turned 
 the corner, and then began again : 
 
 " You are going to Machynleth; and you 
 want a guide to show you the road and to 
 carry your portmanteau : Now I'll do both 
 on cheap terms ; for all I ask in return is 
 this — that, up to the inn-door, if we meet 
 any body that asks unpleasant questions, 
 you will just be so good as to let me pass 
 for your servant whom you have brought 
 from abroad. What say you? Is it a 
 bargain ? " 
 
 " ]\Iy good friend, — according to the 
 most flattering account I have yet received 
 of your morals (which is your own), they 
 are rather of a loose description ; and with 
 all possible respect for your virtue that the 
 case allows, you will admit yourself that I 
 should be running some little risk in con- 
 fiding my portmanteau to your care : for I 
 know not who you are ; and, before I could 
 look round, you might be off with my whole 
 property ; in which case I should certainly 
 
WALLADMOR. 109 
 
 be on a ' sunk rock.' Some little risk, you 
 must candidly allow ? " 
 
 " No," said the stranger — " No, not at 
 all : and if that's all the objection you have, 
 I'll convince you that you are wrong in a 
 moment. Now just look at me (there's a 
 little starlight at this moment). Perhaps 
 you'll admit that I'm rather a stouter man 
 than yourself? " 
 
 " Oh ! doubtless." 
 
 " And possibly this bludgeon would be 
 no especial disadvantage to me in a contest 
 with an unarmed man ? " 
 
 " I must acknowledge it would not." 
 
 " Nor this particular knife ? according 
 to your view of my ' morals,' as you call 
 them, I suppose it would not be very diffi- 
 cult for me to cut your throat with it, and 
 then pitch you into one of these dark 
 mountain ravines — where some six weeks 
 hence a mouldering corpse of a stranger 
 might chance to be found, that nobody 
 would trouble his head about? — Are my 
 arguments forcible ? satisfactory, eh ? " 
 
110 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Undoubtedly. I must grant that there 
 is considerable force in your way of arguing 
 the case. But permit me to ask, what par- 
 ticular consideration moves you to conduct 
 me and my portmanteau without hire to 
 Machynleth ? It seems too disinterested a 
 proposal, to awaken no suspicion." 
 
 ** Not so disinterested as you may fancy. 
 Suppose now I happen to have left a few 
 debts behind me in this country : or sup- 
 pose I were an alien with no passport :^-or 
 suppose any other little supposes you like : 
 only keep them to yourself, and talk as low 
 if you please as convenient." 
 
 " Well, be it so : here's the portman- 
 teau : take care you don't drop this little 
 letter-case." 
 
 The stranger tossed the portmanteau 
 over his shoulder ; and both pushed forward 
 up the pass at a rapid pace. For some 
 miles they advanced in silence : and Ber- 
 tram, being again left to his own medita- 
 tions, had leisure to recur to his original 
 
WALLADMOE. Ill 
 
 suspicions. Whenever the stranger hap- 
 pened to be a little a-head of him, Ber- 
 tram feared that he might be then ab- 
 sconding with his property. When he 
 stopped for a moment, Bertram feared that 
 he was stopping for no good. In no way 
 could he entirely liberate himself from un- 
 easy thoughts. Even upon his own account 
 of himself the man wore rather a suspicious 
 character; and what made it most so in 
 the eyes of Bertram was the varying style 
 of his dialect. He seemed to have en- 
 grafted the humorous phraseology of nauti- 
 cal life, which he wished to pass for his 
 natural style, upon the original stock of a 
 provincial dialect : and yet at times, when 
 he was betrayed into any emotion or was 
 expressing anger at social institutions, a 
 more elevated diction and finer choice of 
 expressions showed that somewhere or other 
 the man must have enjoyed an intercourse 
 with company of a higher class. In one 
 or other part it was clear that he was a 
 
112! WALLADMOR. 
 
 dissembler, and wearing a masque that 
 could not argue any good purposes. Spite 
 of all which however, and in the midst of 
 his distrust, some feeling of kinder interest 
 in the man arose in Bertram's mind — 
 whether it were from compassion as towards 
 one who seemed to have been unfortunate, 
 or from some more obscure feeling that he 
 could not explain to himself. 
 
 The road now wound over a rising 
 ground ; and the stranger pointed out some 
 lights on the left which gleamed out from 
 the universal darkness. 
 
 " Yonder is Machynleth, if that is to be 
 our destination. But, if the gentleman's 
 journey lies further, I could show him 
 another way which fetches a compass about 
 the town." 
 
 "It is late already and very cold : for 
 what reason then should I avoid Machyn- 
 leth?" 
 
 " Oh, every man has his own thoughts 
 and reasons : and verv advisable it is that 
 
WALLADMOR. 113 
 
 he should keep as many of them as possible 
 to himself. Let no man ask another his 
 name, his rank, whither he is bound, on 
 what errand, and so forth. And, if he 
 does, let no man answer him. For under 
 all these little matters may chance to lurk 
 some ugly construction in a court of justice 
 — when a man is obliged to give evidence 
 against a poor ^devil that at any rate has 
 done him no harm." 
 
 " Aye," said Bertram, " and there are 
 other reasons which should make the tra- 
 veller cautious of answering such ques- 
 tions : for consider — how is he to know in 
 what dark lane he may chance to meet the 
 curious stranger on his next day's journey ? 
 Though to be sure you'll say that, for a man 
 with no more baggage than myself, such 
 caution is somewhat superfluous." 
 
 The stranger laughed heartily, and said : 
 " True, too true, as the gentleman ob- 
 serves : and indeed the gentleman seems to 
 understand how such matters are conducted 
 
 VOL. I I 
 
114 WALLADMOR. 
 
 very well However, after all, I would 
 strongly recommend it to the gentleman to 
 avoid the town of IMachynleth." 
 
 " But why so ? Is it a nest of thieves ? " 
 
 " Oh ! Lord bless us ! no : quite the other 
 way : rather too honest, and strict, you un- 
 derstand." 
 
 " Well, and for what reason then avoid 
 making the acquaintance of so very virtuous 
 a town ? " 
 
 " Why, for that reason. It's unreason- 
 ably virtuous. In particular there is a cer- 
 tain magistrate in the neighbourhood, who 
 hangs his 12 men per annum: and why? 
 For no other cause on God's earth than 
 because their blood is hotter than his own. 
 He has his bloodhounds for tracking them, 
 and his spies for trepanning ; and all the 
 old women say that he can read in the stars, 
 and in coffee grounds, where contraband 
 goods come ashore." 
 
 " Why, my pleasant friend, what is it 
 you take me for ? " 
 
WALLADMOR. 115 
 
 The stranger turned round ; pressed his 
 companion's hand ; but, not finding the 
 pressure returned, he laughed and said in a 
 significant tone : 
 
 " Take him for ? I take the gentleman 
 to be as respectable and honourable a gen- 
 tleman as any that frequents the 
 
 highway by night. You are come from 
 abroad : at school you had read flattering 
 accounts of this famous kingdom of Eng- 
 land and its inhabitants ; and, desiring to 
 see all this fine vision realized, you did not 
 let the distance frighten you. And to a 
 young man, I take it, that is some little 
 credit." 
 
 " Well, Sir, well?" 
 
 " Before you left home, your purse had 
 been emptied at some watering place, we'll 
 say by gamblers, sharpers, black legs, &c. ; 
 but no matter how : there are many ways 
 of emptying a purse ; and you are now 
 come over to our rich old England to devise 
 means for filling it again. All right. He, 
 i2 
 
116 WALLADMOR. 
 
 that loses his money at one sort of game, 
 must try to draw it back by some other : 
 and in England there are many. One man 
 marries a rich heiress: another quacks: 
 another opens a tabernacle, and wheedles 
 himself into old women's wills. But per- 
 haps the best way of all is to go into trade, 
 break, take the benefit of the Insolvent 
 Act, and in short get famously ruined ; in 
 which case you're made for life." 
 
 " So then you do really take me to be an 
 adventurer — a fortune-hunter ? " 
 
 " Oh, Sir, God forbid I should take a 
 man for any thing that it is not agreeable to 
 him to be taken for ; or should call him by 
 any name which he thinks uncivil. But 
 the last name, I think, is civil enough : for 
 I suppose every man is a fortune-hunter in 
 this world. Some there are now that hunt 
 their fortunes through quiet paths where 
 there is little risk and much profit : others 
 again" (and here he lost his tranquil tone, 
 and his self-possession) *' others hunt a 
 
WALLx\DM01l. 117 
 
 little profit through much danger, choosing 
 rather to be in eternal strife and to put 
 their hopes daily to hazard than to creep 
 and crawl and sneak and grovel : and at 
 last perhaps they venture into a chase 
 where there is no profit at all — or where 
 the best upshot will be that some dozen of 
 hollow, smiling, fawning scoundrels, who 
 sin according to act of parliament, and 
 therefore are within the protection of par- 
 liament, may be—" 
 
 He paused suddenly, and made a fierce 
 gesture which supplied the ellipsis to his 
 companion : but the latter had little wish 
 to pursue such a theme, and he diverted the 
 conversation into another channel, resuming 
 a topic which had been once broken off: 
 
 " I have come to Wales," said Bertram, 
 " chiefly from the interest I take in its 
 traditions, antiquities, and literature. The 
 ruined monuments of so ancient a people, 
 that maintained its independence so long 
 and so heroically against enemies so potent, 
 
118 WALLADMOR. 
 
 have a powerful interest to my mind when 
 connected with their grand liistorical re- 
 membrances. The great architectural re- 
 lics of older times, — the castles of Aber- 
 conway, Caernarvon, Harlech, and Kilgar- 
 
 " Aye, and Walladmor" — said the other 
 laughing : 
 
 " Yes, Walladmor, and many others, 
 possess a commanding interest to him who 
 has familiarised himself with their history. 
 All places too connected with the memory 
 and half fabidous history of king Arthur — 
 the grand forms of Welch scenery ennobled 
 and glorified by the fine old romancers, 
 Norman or English, or by the native bard 
 
 songs, • 
 
 " I know them all/' said the stranger in- 
 terrupting him and laughing heartily,— 
 " there's Arthur's fort at Cairwarnach — 
 Arthur's table — Arthur's chair — the brook 
 at Drumwaller, where he forded witliout 
 
WALLADMOK. 119 
 
 wetting his feet, — and scores of old ruins in 
 this neighbourhood." 
 
 " And doubtless you have had much 
 pleasure in ranging through these grey me- 
 morials of elder days ? " 
 
 " Pleasure! aye, that I have: many's 
 the good keg of brandy that I've helped to 
 empty among 'em." 
 
 " Keg of brandy ! " said Bertram, some- 
 v^hat shocked. 
 
 " Yes, brandy ; right Cogniac : better 
 than ever king Arthur drank, I'll be sworn. 
 Faith, I believe he'd have sold his scoptre 
 for a dozen of it ; and Sir Gawain would 
 have tumbled through a hoop for a quart. 
 — Oh ! the fun that some of those old walls 
 have looked down upon many's the dark 
 night, when I was a little younger : aye, 
 many a wild jolly party have I sat with in 
 some of those old ruins ! And such a din 
 we've kept, that I've expected old Merlin 
 would come down from some old gallery 
 and beat up our quarters." 
 
120 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Why, certainly night is in some re- 
 peats a favourable time for visiting such 
 buildings : for the lights and shadows are 
 often more grandly and broadly aiTanged. 
 But were these parties that you speak of, 
 parties of tourists to whom you acted as 
 guide ? " 
 
 " Tourists, God knows : a rum kind 
 of tourists though : and a rum kind of 
 guide was I. Egad, I led 'em a steeple 
 chase ; up hill and down hill ; thick and 
 thin — rocks and ruins, nothing came amiss : 
 and there's not many tourists, I think, on 
 the wrong side of twenty-five, that would 
 choose to have followed us. But I sup- 
 pose now, as you've come to Wales on this 
 errand, you would be glad to see a few old 
 churches, abbeys, and so on : fine picking 
 there for a man that hungers after the pic- 
 turesque ; owls, ivy, wall, moonshine, and 
 what not." 
 
 " Certainly I shall," said Bertram : " I 
 design to see every thing that is interest- 
 
WALLADMOll. 121 
 
 ing ; and, I understand that Wales is par- 
 ticularly rich in such objects : and I've seen 
 some beautiful sketches with all the pic- 
 turesque adjuncts and accidents that you 
 mention." 
 
 " Aye, bless your heart, but did you ever 
 see a sketch of Griffith ap Gauvon ? It lies 
 about 20 miles north of Machynleth, in the 
 eastern ravines of Snowdon. G — ! you'd 
 lift up your hands, if you saw the ruins — 
 how majestically they stand upon the naked 
 peaks of the rocks ; and how boldly the 
 pointed arches rise into the air and throw 
 themselves over the unfathomable chasms ! 
 Look up from below, and there on a moon- 
 light night you'll see the white pillars all 
 standing in rows, like so many wax lights : 
 and, if one looks down from above, it's half 
 enough to put thoughts into a man's head 
 of throwing himself down." 
 
 " I protest," said Bertram, " you make my 
 head giddy with your description." 
 
 " Aye, but don't be giddy just yet : for 
 
122 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 we arc now going over a narrow path ; and 
 there's a precipice belov/. Here, give me 
 your hand. So ! — Now turn to the right : 
 now two steps up : and now take my arm ; 
 for it's so dark under these walh — that 
 you'll be apt to stumble." 
 
 33oth advanced in this way for some 
 hundred paces, when suddenly his guide 
 stopped, and said : 
 
 '* Here we are at last ; and my term of 
 ' service ' is out. This is the JValladmor 
 Arms ; and it is decidedly the best inn in 
 the town ; for there is no other." 
 
 If any courteous reader has ever, in the 
 May-time of his own life or in the May- 
 time of the year, made a pedestrian tour 
 among the northern or western mountains 
 of om- island, he will understand what was 
 in Bertram's mind at this moment — a vision 
 of luxurious refreshment and rest after a 
 hard day's fatigue, disturbed by anxious 
 doubts about the nature of his reception. 
 Jn this state he laid his hand upon the 
 
WALLADMOR. 123 
 
 latch ; and perhaps the light of the door- 
 lainp, which at this moment fell upon his 
 features, explained to his guide what was 
 passing in his mind ; for he drew him back 
 
 by the arm, and said 
 
 " One word of advice before we part : 
 even the * servant ' may presume to counsel 
 his * master ' as he is quitting his service. 
 The landlord within is not one of those 
 landlords who pique themselves on courtesy: 
 and the gentleman tourist, with submission 
 be it said, is not one of those tourists who 
 travel with four horses, — or even by the 
 stage-coach : and foot-travellers in England, 
 especially in the winter season, do not meet 
 with ' high consideration/ Which pre- 
 mises weighed, — if you were to ask for a 
 night's lodging at your first entrance, I bet 
 ten to one that you will get none ; no, not 
 though the house were as empty as it is 
 probably full by the infernal din. But do 
 what I tell you : Call for ale, porter, or 
 winco the moment you enter. As fast as 
 
124 WALLADMOR. 
 
 your reckoning mounts, so fast will the frost 
 thaw about the landlord's heart. Go to 
 work in any other way, and I'll not answer 
 for it but you'll have to lie in the street." 
 
 With full determination to pay attention 
 to his advice, Bertram again laid his hand 
 upon the latch; opened the door; and 
 made his appearance, for the first time in 
 his life, upon that famous stage in the re- 
 cords of novelists — a British inn. 
 
WALLADMOR. 1^5 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Now this is worshipful society. — King John. 
 
 The room, into which Bertram now in- 
 troduced himself, was spacious beyond any 
 thing that he had anticipated : but, spa- 
 cious as it was, it seemed barely sufficient 
 for its different occupants. A large play- 
 bill, hung in a very conspicuous situation, 
 announced the play of Venice Preserved 
 for representation on that evening. It was 
 now a good deal after 10 o'clock, and the 
 performance was over : but the Venetian 
 Nobili, in the dignified solemnity of their 
 black dresses, were scattered about the room 
 in parties — or laying aside the costlier part 
 of their finery in a remote corner partly 
 screened off from public view, which had 
 been allotted to them as a tiring room. 
 Round about the fire-place, in an elevated 
 sort of dais which had been railed off into 
 
1^6 avalladMor. 
 
 a bar, a canopy of smoke proclaimed that 
 a festive party were somewhere seated be- 
 neath it. On advancing a few steps fm*- 
 ther, Bertram could distinguish their faces 
 and arrangement. Close by the fire side 
 sate a huge Dutchman with a huge pipe, 
 solemnly fixing his eyes upon the pomp of 
 clouds which he had created or was in the 
 act of creating, and apparently solacing 
 himself with some vague images of multi- 
 plication and division. His leaden eye 
 showed that he was completely rapt away 
 from all that was passing about him : two 
 critics disputing at his right ear upon the 
 relative pretensions of two actresses, — two 
 politicians disputing at his back on the 
 Sinking Fund and the Funds in general, 
 as little disturbed his meditations as two 
 disputants before his face, viz. the landlord 
 and the manager of the theatrical company, 
 who were sharply discussing some private 
 point of finance in their daily reckoning. 
 The poor manager, — with his keen, meagre, 
 
WALLADMOR. 127 
 
 and anxious countenance, at this moment 
 rendered doubly anxious by the throes of 
 an arithmetical computation, — seemed the 
 antagonist pole of the Dutchman : he was 
 endeavouring, with little success, to bring 
 the night's receipts into something like a 
 counterbalance to the daily bill ; this had 
 just been presented by the landlord, who 
 had placed his bulky person immediately 
 behind him, looked over his shoulder, and 
 having encircled him with his arms for the 
 sake of leaning with his knuckles upon the 
 table, had fairly pinned in the poor manager, 
 who continued at intervals upon every per- 
 plexing interruption from his antagonist to 
 wheel round and face him like a stag at 
 bay. Nearer to Bertram sate a man, whose 
 curved nose — black hair — ardent looks — 
 and sallow complexion, at once announced 
 him as a Frenchman : he was occupied in 
 painting a portrait of one actress at the 
 same time that he was making complimen- 
 tary grimaces to three others. In the 
 
128 WALLADMOR. 
 
 chimney-corner, and over against the Dutch- 
 man, was seated an elderly man, of short 
 thick-set person, dressed in a shabby grey 
 coat — boots — and a white hat. His fea- 
 tures were not in themselves veiy striking, 
 but had been habitually composed to one 
 intense expression of dissatisfaction with 
 all about him. Like the Dutchman he 
 looked away from the company towards the 
 fire, and appeared to take no interest in 
 any thing which went on : but this in him 
 was mere affectation. The Dutchman, as 
 a child could see, was most sincerely in- 
 different to every thing but the festoons of 
 smoke which formed about him ; nor ever 
 seemed to suffer in his peace of mind ex- 
 cept when this aerial drapery was rent or 
 too much attenuated: then indeed he 
 puffed with a perceptible agitation, until 
 he had reinstated the vapoury awning — 
 which done he immediately recovered his 
 equanimity. But as to White Hat, by 
 the complexity of his manoeuvres for dis- 
 
WALLADMOll. 1^9 
 
 guising his interest in the conversation about 
 him — by uniformly shifting his chair upon 
 the approximation of any other chair — and 
 by the jealous anxiety with which he affect- 
 ed to turn away his head if any person 
 were talking near him, he made it suffi- 
 ciently evident that no one person in the 
 room paid so earnest an attention to 
 what was passing as himself. He also 
 had resorted to a pipe for the sake 
 of expressing his abstraction from the 
 world about him ; but how different 
 were his short — uneasy — asthmatic puffs 
 from the floating pomp with which the 
 Dutchman sent up his voluminous exhala- 
 tions ! In his right hand he held a news- 
 paper which he appeared to be reading ; 
 sometimes glancing his eye over it, some- 
 times dwelling upon the words as if he 
 were spelling them ; in general however 
 giving himself a great deal of trouble to 
 impress upon all about him that he took 
 little or no interest in any thing he read. 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
130 WALI.ADMOE. 
 
 These were the most noticeable persons 
 of tlie company to which Bertram now 
 advanced ; taking care at the same time 
 to c^ll for wine in an imposing tone of 
 voice. At this sound the landlord wheeled 
 suddenly round, which fortunately set the 
 poor manager at liberty. Both stared at 
 Bertram : the Frenchman looked up for a 
 moment : even the White Hat, being taken 
 by surprise, made a half wheel on his 
 chair; though immediately reverting, not 
 without some indignation at himself, to his 
 former position ; in fact every soul in the 
 room looked at Bertram except the Dutch- 
 man. Silence ensued ; and the landlord, 
 after raising and dropping his eyes alter- 
 nately from Bertram's head to his foot, 
 demanded if he had a horse with him. 
 
 " No, I am on foot," replied Bertram. 
 
 " Very late time of night," the landlord 
 muttered, " to be walking : pray, wliicli 
 way do you come ? " 
 
 " From the sea- side, where I was set 
 ashore this evening about 5 o'clock " 
 
WALLADMOR. 131 
 
 After a little further cross-examination, 
 the landlord appeared to be satisfied ; and 
 directed " Jenny " to bring the wine ; the 
 buz of conversation, which had been hushed 
 during the landlord's colloquy with the 
 stranger, freshened again ; and Bertram 
 proceeded to take his seat amongst the 
 company. 
 
 It is affirmed by some philosophers that 
 Timon of Athens himself, if, on issuing 
 from the darkness and cold of a fifteen miles' 
 walk on a frosty winter's night succeeding 
 to a day of hardship and exposure, he were 
 suddenly to burst on a gay fire-side of 
 human faces, lights, wine, and laughter, — 
 would inevitably forget his misanthropy for 
 that evening, and be glad to take his share 
 in the conversation. Bertram was probably 
 so disposed : it was therefore unfortunate for 
 him that he took his seat by the side of the 
 Dutchman. 
 
 " I perceive," said Bertram, " that you 
 have had a play performed this evening." 
 K 2 
 
132 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Without looking up from his pipe, Min- 
 heer repHed — *• Like enough I I was told 
 there were players here." 
 
 Nothing discouraged Bertram turned 
 to his opposite neighhour, the White Hat : 
 " You, Sir, prohahly attended the per- 
 formance ? " 
 
 " /F" replied the indignant man, "/ 
 trouble myself with such fooleries, when 
 the poor country is ruined and perishing 
 for bread ? " 
 
 " Fooleries! Mr. Dulberry," exclaimed 
 the manager, " what I A^enice Preserved ? " 
 
 " Venice Preserved, or Venice Treacle : 
 what care I ? It's a play-book, isn't it ? — 
 Here we are taxed already for the support 
 of libraries, museums, Herculanean manu- 
 scripts, Elgin marbles, and God knows 
 what. \^ery soon, I suppose goveinment 
 will assess us so much a head for the 
 theatres." 
 
 " Ah, poor A'enice Preserved I" ejaculated 
 the manager, sighing : ** it has ahvays some 
 
WALLADMOR. 133 
 
 enemy or other. In quiet times it is laid 
 on the shelf. Then comes some season of 
 political ferment : the liberty boys kick 
 up a dust : the public voice calls for the 
 play clamorously : the theatre fills nightly : 
 every allusion is caught at with rapture : 
 and, as to the actors, they may lie upon 
 their oars ; for, let them play as ill as they 
 choose, they are sure of applause for the 
 sake of what they utter. But, as often as 
 ever this happens^ in steps the government 
 and forbids the representation." 
 
 " Forbid the representation?" shrieked 
 Mr. Didberry ; " forbid that excellent play 
 Venice Preserved ? What ! there's some- 
 thing in it against government, is there ? 
 Oh ! it's an admirable play. And how, 
 now, how is it they forbid it ? Not by act of 
 parliament, I dare swear : bad as parliament 
 is, they would hardly trust it to them. By 
 an order in council, I suppose ? and Lord 
 Londonderry sends a regiment of dragoons 
 into the pit, eh ?" 
 
134 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " No, Mr, Dulberry : the Lord Chamber- 
 lain forbids it." 
 
 " The Lord Chamberlain ? Worse and 
 worse ! And so it's the Lord Chamberlain 
 that sends the dragoons ? — Chamberlain ! 
 why that's the man that takes care of the 
 government sheets and pillow-slips; the 
 overseer of the chambermaids. And he's 
 to trample on the liberties of the country 
 and to put out the lights of the theatre, by 
 the hoofs of military despotism ! — Oh fie ! 
 fie f poor old England !" 
 
 Partly from political indignation, and 
 partly from some more personal indignation 
 at a little laughing which now arose in some 
 quarter of the room, the patriot returned 
 hastily to the Courier, which he held in his 
 hand ; and the conversation seemed likely 
 to droop ; when suddenly Bertram's atten- 
 tion was drawn by a bright blaze of light; 
 and, looking up, he beheld his reforming 
 neighbour, Mr. Dulberry, metamorphosed 
 into a pillar of salt. His mouth was wide 
 
WALLADMOR. 135 
 
 open ; the whites of his eyes were raised to 
 the ceiling; one hand was clenched; the 
 other hung lifeless by his side. The Cou- 
 rier had sunk with one end into the fire ; a 
 roaring flame was sjiringing up and envelop- 
 ing the whole : and, before Mr. Dulberry 
 returned to his self-possession, the newspa- 
 per with all its world of history and pro- 
 phecy was reduced to ashes. 
 
 " Mr. Dulberry ! for God's sake, Mr. Dul- 
 berry ! what's the matter ? " exclaimed the 
 company on all sides. " Has Bolivar beaten 
 the royalists ? Is the Austrian loan 
 repaid? or what is it, for the love of 
 heaven?" 
 
 " What is it, gentlemen? a thing to 
 make your ears tingle ! the j\lanchester 
 massacres were a trifle to it. An English- 
 man Oh Lord ! gentlemen, it's all over 
 
 with the habeas corpus act^ an English- 
 man has been arrested by the emissaries of 
 government after he had quitted the king- 
 dom." 
 
136 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " ^Vhat government? the French go- 
 vernt?" 
 
 " No, gentlemen, by the Enghsh govern- 
 ment : arrested out of the kingdom : think 
 of that, gentlemen ! " 
 
 " But where, where ?" exclaimed several 
 voices: " in France?" 
 
 " Why yes, I think I may say in France : 
 for he was going to France ; and he had 
 actually put off in a boat from the Isle of 
 Wight, and was three hundred yards from 
 shore, on his way towards a French ship, 
 w^hich he was going to board." 
 
 " Oh come, ]\Ir. Dulberry," said some of 
 the company, laughing, " but that's Eng- 
 land, however ; as far as an English cannon- 
 ball will reach, and a little farther too in the 
 opinion of some jurists, the four seas are 
 English property : England's domain ; her 
 manor ; her park ; and she has a right to 
 set up turnpike gates if she pleases." 
 
 " By no means, gentlemen, by no means ; 
 Blackstone says that, to constitute posses- 
 
WALLADMOR. 137 
 
 sion, there must go two things — the act 
 of possessing, and the will to possess. So 
 also no douht of a man's domicile : to make 
 this har my domicile, I must not only be 
 here ; but secondly, I must will to be here. 
 Now this man willed to be in France ; and 
 England was no longer his domicile. And 
 where a man is not, there he ought not by 
 law to be arrested." 
 
 This pretty piece of subtilty was received 
 by most of the company with a smile ; but 
 as Mr. Dulberry remarked that some little 
 murmuring arose, which announced that 
 some of his auditors were impressed with 
 what he had said, he seized his opportunity, 
 jumped upon his chair, flourished his white 
 hat, and briefly harangued the company. 
 
 " Gentlemen," said he, '' we all know 
 that ministers have sealed this country 
 against all unhappy foreigners, and have 
 tarnished the old English character for 
 generous hospitality by their cursed alien 
 bill. This we knew before : but now comes 
 
138 WALLADMOR. 
 
 a fresh assault on liberty. Not only must 
 we look on and see nets and lines set all 
 round our once hospitable shores to catch 
 the unhappy fugitives from continental 
 tyranny ; but at length, it seems, ministers 
 are to be allowed to throw out their grap- 
 pling hooks after English fugitives from the 
 tyranny of Lord Londonderry. If a man 
 runs to the North Pole, I suppose Lord Lon- 
 donderry and Ally*" Croaker will soon be 
 after them : and that^ by the way, is the 
 meaning of all these polar voyages. — I see 
 that even the ministerial gentlemen present 
 cast down their eyes and look ashamed. No 
 man has a word to say in defence. What 
 I propose therefore is, that we all unite 
 in an addi'ess to the king — testifying our 
 abhorrence of this last act which has made 
 the cup of our afflictions run over, and beg- 
 ging that his majesty would dissolve the 
 
 * A joke upon an Irish accentuation of Mr. Croker's, the 
 Secretary to the Admiralty. In his Talavera he accentuated the 
 the word Ally Uibernicc, with the accent on the first syllable. On 
 which 3Ir. Southey playfully called him Ally Croaker. 
 
WALLADMOR. 139 
 
 present administration, and form a new one 
 on a more patriotic basis." 
 
 " But, Mr. Dulberry, who is it that has 
 been arrested ? " cried many of the com- 
 pany. 
 
 " That's nothing to the purpose, gen- 
 tlemen : the man's an Englishman ; and 
 that's enough, I hope." 
 
 " But how if he should turn out to be an 
 English lunatic escaped from his keepers?" 
 said a cynical looking man in the corner. 
 
 A laugh followed, and a general cry of— > 
 " Name ! name ! " 
 
 Not to forfeit his hold upon the public at- 
 tention, Mr. Dulberry found himself obliged 
 to relax the rigor of his principles, and to 
 descend from the universal character of Eng- 
 lishman to so impertinent a consideration as 
 the character of the individual. — " His name, 
 gentlemen, is Edward Nicholas." 
 
 " Nicholas ! Edward Nicholas ! " said a 
 number of voices at once : " what our 
 Nicholas ? " 
 
140 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 " As to that, I know not : he was de- 
 scribed in the Courier as a bold adventurer : 
 many honourable traits were recited of his 
 conduct ; and in particular I remember it 
 was said that he had fought on the side of 
 liberty in South America, and had once 
 commanded a sloop of war — as a commis- 
 sioned officer — under Artigas." 
 
 " Oh ! the same, the same ! " exclaimed 
 the greater part of the company : " our 
 Nicholas, sure enough : but what mad trick 
 has he been playing now ? " 
 
 The patriot was evidently uneasy, and 
 reluctant to answer this question. Being 
 pressed however on all sides^ he replied — 
 " I don't know, gentlemen, that he has 
 been playing any tricks : the Courier pre- 
 tends that he is charged with some know- 
 ledge of the Cato-street affair ; treason, or 
 misprision of treason, as they call it in their 
 d — d treasury jargon." 
 
 " Oh ! Cato-street ? Is that it ? " cried 
 the whole room with one voice, " then we'll 
 
WALLADMOR. 141 
 
 have no addresses for him : no, no ! we'll 
 not address his Majesty for a Cato- street 
 conspirator." 
 
 " But, gentlemen," said the disconcerted 
 patriot — " But gentlemen, I say " 
 
 " My. Dulberry, it won't do," interrupt- 
 ed a grave-looking tradesman : " Attack 
 the ministers as much as you will. Let 
 every man attack them. It's all fair. And 
 I dare say they deserve it : for I'm not the 
 man to think any of them saints. But let's 
 hear it all in the old English way ; all fair 
 and above board : no foul play: no stabbing 
 of unarmed men : set Junius upon them — 
 set Cato upon them — set Publicola upon 
 them in the newspapers. But no slipping 
 into men's friendly meetings ! no cutting 
 throats by the fire-side ! No Venice con- 
 spirators in England." 
 
 " Friendly meetings ! and fire-sides ! " 
 said Dulberry ; " why, God bless me, how 
 you varnish the matter ! To hear i/ou talk, 
 — one would suppose these ministers of ours 
 
142 WALLADMOR. 
 
 were so many lambs, and met for nothing 
 but to kiss and sing psalms. I tell you, 
 they never meet but to plot against us and 
 our liberties. And as to conspirators, if 
 you come to that, I know of none except at 
 Lord Harrowby's. You say there was a 
 conspiracy of Cato-street against Grosvenor- 
 square : / say — No : there was a conspi- 
 racy of Grosvenor-square against Cato- 
 street." 
 
 This view of the case seemed so new and 
 original to the company, that a general 
 laugh followed ; and the reformer, finding 
 that he was no longer accompanied by the 
 sympathy of his audience, sate down in 
 dudgeon — muttering something about " lac- 
 queys of Lord Londonderry." The politi- 
 cian being silenced, an opening was now 
 allowed for a subject far more interesting to 
 the majority of those who were present, and 
 to many more in this part of Wales. 
 
 *' And so Nicholas is taken at last ? " 
 said Mr. Bloodinsrstonc a butcher : " Well, 
 
WALLADMOR. 143 
 
 now that's what I could never have thought 
 — that Nicholas should let himself be taken 
 as quietly as a lamb. Bless your hearts, on 
 all this coast there's not a creek or a cranny 
 big enough for a field-mouse but he knew 
 it : and all the way from Barmouth to Car- 
 narvon I'll be sworn there's not a man on 
 the Preventive Service, simple or gentle, but 
 Nicholas has had his neck under his foot at 
 one time or another." 
 
 " Aye, Mr. Bloodinsgtone," replied the 
 landlord : " but a Bow-street officer with 
 his staff is like Joshua the son of Nun ; he 
 can make the sun and moon stand still. So 
 thafs not the thing I wonder at. What 
 surprizes me is — that a man like Nicholas 
 should ever meddle with these politics and 
 politicians, that get nothing for their pains 
 but bloody heads and a trifle of fame that 
 would never pay for one glass of good 
 whiskey punch. What ! Nicholas was a man 
 of sense ; and a d — d long head he had of 
 his own. And, if he would but have been 
 
144 WALLADMOR. 
 
 quiet and have gone on in a regular way, 
 he might have been a rich man by this 
 time : for he had credit for evermore with 
 the merchants in Amsterdam and An- 
 twerp ; and with some others too that I'll 
 say nothing about." 
 
 " Was this Nicholas then settled in bu- 
 siness at this place ? " asked the Frenchman. 
 
 A smile appeared on the major part of 
 the faces present ; and the landlord an- 
 swered with a loud laugh — " Settled ! my 
 God! I would be glad to see the place 
 where Nicholas was ever settled for twenty- 
 four hours together. No, bless you ! 
 Nicholas was no settler. And there's some 
 folk will say that he never sate down in his 
 life : but that's not true ; for I've seen him 
 sit many a time in that very arm-chair 
 where the young gentleman is now sitting:" 
 here he pointed to Bertram who felt some- 
 what uneasy at the very marked attention 
 which was at this moment directed on him 
 by the company. The landlord however 
 
WALLADMOR. 145 
 
 took no notice, but proceeded in his an- 
 swer : " No, Nicholas was no settler : and 
 just as little can I call him a man in busi- 
 ness. He was a sort of agent, you see, in 
 other people's business ; and a d — d dan- 
 gerous sort of business too ; and I suppose 
 there's never been his match in that way 
 since the time of Owen Owalys. However 
 we'll say nothing about all that : he stocked 
 the whole country with cheap brandies and 
 other little matters. And so I'll say nothing 
 against his way of doing business ; though 
 I reckon we mustn't praise it, except in a 
 corner." 
 
 " You must understand, Monsieur," said 
 a voice from behind, " that this Nicholas 
 set up an opposition trade against the go- 
 vernment ; and undersold it, so that govern- 
 ment lost all its trade in this part of the 
 country; for which reason government is 
 jealous of him, and can't abide him. — 
 But, landlord, it seems you knew this 
 Nicholas ? " 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
146 WALtADMOR. 
 
 " I knew him in a manner : but how ? 
 I knew him, and I knew him not. Scores 
 of times he has sate in this bar, and I never 
 knew it to be him until after he was gone. 
 Sometimes he would come dressed like an 
 old beggar, and slink into a corner ; some- 
 times like a labouring man, and argue 
 with me for the value of a halfpenny ; other 
 times I have known him come like a lord, 
 and make his guineas fly about like so 
 much dust. And once — egad ! I can*t help 
 laughing — he came in the uniform of a 
 dragoon officer, and he would needs cudgel 
 me for letting Nicholas escape. He got me 
 by the throat: I sung out for my very life : 
 Jenny — she ran for the constables : the 
 neighbours came flocking in: Alderman 
 Gravesand brought all his posse comitatus 
 down, for he was then on the look-out for 
 Nicholas at the town's end: and, would 
 you believe it ? by that time all was settled 
 the whole party of the smugglers, bag and 
 baggage, was clean through the town, and 
 
WALLADMOR. 147 
 
 ten miles on the road to Ap Gauvon. And 
 all this at noon-day." 
 
 " Well, landlord, and what said Nicholas 
 when you saw him next ? " 
 
 *'' The next time I saw him, gentlemen, 
 was in my own bar ; and dressed in one of 
 my own wigs, jacket, and apron. Gad, I 
 never was so frightened in the whole course 
 of my life. I had just walked a mile out 
 of town to our parson's ; and, as I was 
 coming back, a man shot by me like an 
 arrow : but, as quick as he was, says I to 
 myself, — That's Nicholas ! And sure 
 enough many minutes had'nt passed before 
 up comes a great company of men, and 
 asks me which way Nicholas had gone. I 
 thought to myself — These'll be the Blazer's 
 men of the revenue service, that's stationed 
 off Caernarvon. So I did'nt trouble myself 
 to give 'em much of an answer, and away 
 they pelted after him in full cry. Well, 
 gentlemen, — before I got home, both hare 
 and hounds (as it happened) had turned 
 l2 
 
148 WALLADMOIi. 
 
 into my bar. And, if you'll believe me, the 
 first man I clapt my eyes on as I came into 
 my own house — egad, I thought it was my- 
 self or my own ghost." 
 
 " And if this had been in the Scotch 
 Highlands now, landlord, you would have 
 been sure of being in your coffin before 
 the year was out." 
 
 «« Why I know not for that,^ Sir : but 
 it's not lucky in any country for a man to 
 see his own likeness walking about : and 
 I'll not deny but I was a little startled ; 
 and I sate me down amongst the Blazer's 
 men, and could not speak a word. And 
 says he to me — (but he turned his face ra- 
 ther away) — ' Good man, did you call for 
 whiskey ? ' And I could have sworn to 
 the voice for my own amongst a thousand : 
 But, when he served me the whiskey, I 
 looked hard at him ; and I saw it was Ni- 
 cholas. But I had'nt the heart to betray 
 him : and I says to him — ' Landlord, how 
 are you ? and how goes business ? ' — 
 
WALLADMOR. 149 
 
 * Business ? ' says he, * we've business 
 for evermore ; I'm run off my feet with 
 business.' And sure enough he took six- 
 pence of me in my own bar ; and fifteen 
 shillings of the revenue men for smuggled 
 brandy. And whilst they were drinking, 
 out he slips — and whips away at the north 
 gate by the very same road they had all 
 come ; and two minutes after the lieu- 
 tenant and his company were oflP, as if the 
 devil drove 'em, to the south." 
 
 " This extraordinary talent for personat- 
 ing every age and character," said the ma- 
 nager, " he learned (or improved however) 
 whilst he was in my troop. He was the 
 best actor I ever had : nothing came amiss 
 to him — Ricliard the Third, or Aguecheek ; 
 Shylock or Pistol — Romeo or the Apothe- 
 cary — Hamlet or the Cock*: for by the 
 
 * A joke borrowed from , by whom it was applied to 
 
 a better man than himself; one of the most extraordinary 
 men of genius in this age, and whosejlife has been more romantic 
 than that of Edward Nicholas, 
 
150 VVALLADMOR. 
 
 way he once took it into his head to play 
 the Cock in the first scene of Hamlet ; 
 and he crowed in so very superior a style 
 that the oldest cock in the neighbourhood 
 was taken in, and got to answering him ; 
 and the crowing spread from one farm-house 
 to another till all the cocks in Carnarvon- 
 shire were crowing." 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! ha ! Mr. Manager, and what 
 said the audience to this ? " 
 
 " What said the audience ? Why they 
 encored him — pit, boxes, and gallery : and 
 the ghost was obliged to come on again, 
 that he might be crowed off again. But 
 all this was when he was a boy of 17 : for 
 he soon got tired of the stage." 
 
 " Aye, he grows tired of every thing," 
 said some of the company : " and by this 
 time, I'll be bound for it, he's grown tired 
 of smuggling : and, if it be true that he 
 has had any thing to do with Thistlewood, 
 that's the reason/' 
 
 " No," said another, " that's noi the rca- 
 
WALLADMOR. 151 
 
 son; tired of smuggling, I dare say he 
 was ; for a man, like Nicholas, could never 
 have liked it ifor any thing but its active 
 life, and its danger and its difficulties. 
 But, if any thing has brought him con- 
 nected with Cato-street, it is love." 
 
 " Love ! what love for Lord London- 
 derry?" 
 
 " No, no, you guess what I mean ; there 
 are few in this room but know pretty well 
 what I mean ; love for a young lady in the 
 neighbourhood." 
 
 ** Miss Walladmor, I suppose ? " 
 
 " Hush ! hush ! " said the landlord,— 
 " let us name no names," 
 
 " Well ! no matter for the name : but we 
 all know that love had turned his brain : he 
 was desperate ; and for this last year and a 
 half it's notorious that he has been as mad 
 as a March hare." 
 
 " Nicholas in love ! *' said Mr. Blood- 
 ingstone, " well, now that sounds as comical 
 
152 WALLADMOR. 
 
 to me as if I should say, that my bull-dog 
 Towser was in love with a bull." 
 
 " Why, God bless my soul ! haven't the 
 Rotterdam merchants turned him out of 
 their service for that very reason ? I know 
 it to be a fact that, no farther back than 
 last February, when one of them was pro- 
 mising him 400 guineas if he'd do this and 
 that, — * Damn your guineas ! ' says he, ' if 
 it were not for a fau'er face than ever 1 saw 
 on a guinea, I would never set foot in 
 Wales again.' And he raved at such a rate 
 about the young lady, that all the owners 
 began to be shy of him : and the end of it 
 
 was, that Captain le what's his 
 
 name ? — has been put in his room.'* 
 
 "Captain Jackson you mean," said the 
 landlord, " for that's his real name ; aye, 
 it*s true enough that Jackson has now got 
 the command." 
 
 " Well, but mad or not mad, what be- 
 came of Nicholas after the Bow-street 
 
WALLADMOR. 153 
 
 officers had laid hold of him ? Mr. Dul- 
 berry, you had the paper : what became of 
 him ? Clapt into a post-chaise for London, 
 eh?» 
 
 " No, sir : with all their plots, it seems 
 government couldn't make sure of catching 
 him on the Cato-street business : witnesses 
 couldn't be bought, or juries couldn't be 
 packed, I suppose : and so they've sent him 
 to this part of the country ; and he's to 
 take his trial at Dolgelly or Carnarvon for 
 some old affairs, God knows what, with the 
 Custom-house or the Blazer." 
 
 " God bless me ! " exclaimed almost every 
 man in the room, " so then we shall see 
 Edward Nicholas once more ; and I'll walk 
 fifty miles rather than miss the sight. And 
 which way does he come, Mr. Dul- 
 berry ? " 
 
 '* By sea, gentlemen ; they shipped him 
 on board the steam-packet Halcyon ; and 
 God, in his mercy, grant that this cursed 
 instrument of despotic power may blow up 
 
154 WALLA DMOR. 
 
 and deliver so good a patriot from their 
 snares ! " 
 
 " The Halcyon ! " exclaimed Bertram, 
 with a vehemence proportioned to his sud- 
 den surprise and the interest which by this 
 time he felt in the subject of the conversa- 
 tion—" The Halcyon ! Why then, Mr. Dul- 
 berry, your prayer is granted : for the Hal- 
 cyon blew up two days ago in St. George's 
 Channel ; somewhere, I believe, off the Isle 
 of Anglesea : / was one of the passengers ; 
 and, to the best of my belief, all on board 
 have perished — except myself" 
 
 In Lloyd's coffee-house, or other places 
 of great resort in London, when a placard 
 is exhibited reporting any important news, 
 the restlessness of public impatience seems 
 often as though it would extort an answer 
 to its further curiosity from the inanimate 
 pillar or post to which the placard is affixed : 
 it may be supposed how much more liable 
 to such importunity is the bearer of a pla- 
 card that happens to be no stone pillar but 
 
WALLADMOR. 155 
 
 a living man. Bertram was pressed upon 
 from all sides for his narrative of the catas- 
 trophe, which he gave in substance as the 
 reader has already heard it. Of Nicholas, 
 whom he now understood to have been his 
 fellow-passenger, he knew nothing : that 
 some state prisoner, of extraordinary cha- 
 racter, was on board — he had indeed ca- 
 sually heard ; but had seen nothing of him 
 to his own knowledge ; and if he were un- 
 der hatches and in irons, there was no room 
 to doubt that he must have been amongst 
 those who were most sure to have perished. 
 All that he could certainly report of the 
 final sequel to his own share in the adven- 
 ture — was that, since his eyes had opened 
 on shore, they had rested on no counte- 
 nance which he remembered to have seen 
 on board the Halcyon. It is needless to 
 say that a mixed expression of wonder, deep 
 interest in the events, and compassion for 
 the unfortunate sufferers, accompanied 
 Bertram's narrative. The narrator himself 
 
156 WALLADMOR. 
 
 was the object of a mingled sympathy of 
 condolence and congratulation — blended 
 however with an air of keen examination 
 directed to his features (now that they were 
 brought nearer to the observers and under a 
 steadier light) which had once before dis- 
 tressed him in the course of the evening, 
 and for which he could find no satisfactory 
 explanation. The prevailing sentiment, 
 which arose at the end of the account, was 
 a lively regret that the near prospect of see- 
 ing Edward Nicholas again — so suddenly 
 opened upon them — should have been so 
 suddenly overcast. Nevertheless, such was 
 the general confidence in his good fortune 
 and his unrivalled resources in presence of 
 mind and bodily activity — that considerable 
 odds were offered by many of the company 
 that Nicholas, who had outlived so many 
 desperate storms, both by sea and land, in all 
 climates of the world, would yet be heard of 
 
 again. 
 
 For any of these feelings or considera- 
 
WALLADMOR. 157 
 
 tions Mr. Dulberry had no leisure: the 
 moral, which he drew from this, as from all 
 other events great or small — sad or merry, 
 was exclusively civic and full of patriotic 
 spleen:—'' So then," said he, "you see 
 what sort of ships government choose for 
 transporting their state prisoners ? " 
 
 " But, good God, Mr. Dulberry, you can 
 hardly suppose that the boiler of the Hal- 
 cyon was in the pay of my Lord London- 
 derry ? " 
 
 " The boiler ! — No : but where was the 
 engineer that should have been in his pay ? 
 Didn't Mr. Bennett propose a year or two 
 ago, that no steam-packet should be law- 
 fully tmned off the stocks before it was 
 thoroughly examined by a state engineer ? 
 Didn't " 
 
 But here supper was announced, a sum- 
 mons welcome in itself, and at this moment 
 doubly so as putting a stop to the reformer. 
 Even that person condescended to be 
 pleased on the former consideration, though 
 
158 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 reasonably incensed on the other ; and he 
 advanced to the table in a continued ejacu- 
 lation of inarticulate grunts — a sort of equi- 
 vocal language in which he designed to 
 convey alike his approbation of supper and 
 displeasure at the interruption. 
 
 Bertram took his seat with the rest of the 
 party ; but sought an early opportunity of 
 withdrawing himself from a scene of convi- 
 vial merriment, in which his previous fa- 
 tigues had by this time wholly disqualified 
 him for sharing with any cordiality. Wea- 
 rily he followed the person who conducted 
 him to his bedchamber : but, spite of his 
 sleepiness and exhaustion, he was roused to 
 a slight shock of something like terror, by 
 a little incident which occurred on the way: 
 — in one of the galleries, through which 
 they passed, a man was standing at the 
 further end : he was apparently in the act 
 of admitting himself into a bed-room : but 
 something, which embarrassed him about 
 the lock or the key, detained him until they 
 
WALLADMOR. 159 
 
 advanced near enough to throw the light of 
 a candle full upon his profile. It was the 
 profile of a face tanned into a gypsey com- 
 plexion, and for so young a face — weather- 
 beaten, thin, and wasted ; but otherwise of 
 Grecian beauty of outline ; and, as far as 
 could be judged from so hasty and oblique 
 a glance, remarkably expressive and digni- 
 fied. The man did not look round or take 
 any other notice of them, as they ad- 
 vanced : and the attendant either had not, 
 or affected not to have, any knowledge of 
 his person : but Bertram felt a bewildering 
 remembrance, as if suddenly snatched and 
 recovered from a dream, of the same fea- 
 tures seen under circumstances of some 
 profounder interest. He labored anxi- 
 ously to recollect in what situation and 
 when ; but the events of the last few days 
 had so agitated and bewildered his mind, 
 that he labored in vain ; and, the more he 
 thought, the more he entangled himself in 
 a web of perplexity. From this and all 
 
160 WALLADMOR. 
 
 other perplexities, however, he was speedily 
 liberated by the sound sleep which seized 
 him the moment he had laid his head on 
 the pillow. 
 
WALLADMOK. l6l 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Pand. Hark, they are coming from the field : shall we stand 
 up here, and see them as they pass towards Ilium ? Good niece 
 do, sweet niece Cressida. 
 
 Cress. At your pleasure. 
 
 Pand. Here, here, here's an excellent place: here we may see 
 most bravely. I'll tell you them all by their names as they pass 
 by : but mark Troilus above the rest. 
 
 Troilus and Cressida : Act. 1. 
 
 When Bertram awoke, the sun was al- 
 ready high and pouring a golden light 
 through the frosted window of his bed- 
 room. The church-bells of IMachynleth 
 were ringing gaily : from one or two neigh- 
 bouring villages arose a fainter sound of 
 bells; and the stir and motion within doors 
 and without proclaimed that this was some 
 festal day. On descending to breakfast, 
 he found the house arranged in the neatest 
 order and garnished with branches of fir. 
 The door was crowded and the street was 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
162 WALI.ADMOn, 
 
 swarming with groups of country people- 
 men, women, and children ; the women 
 adorned with gay ribbons, and the men 
 with bouquets of leeks. The landlord and 
 many of his inmates paid the same honor 
 to the day : and every thing announced 
 that it was the great national festival of 
 Wales, sacred to good St. David; a day 
 on which no man of Welch blood, though 
 he should be at Seringapatam, would think 
 it lawful to forget this ancient recognizance 
 of Cambrian fraternitv. — True it is however, 
 that, like all other old usages, this also 
 (except in the principality itself) is rapidly 
 falling into disuse. Else surely it could 
 never have happened that precisely on this 
 day a certain noble lord of Welch descent 
 should have thought fit to rise in his place 
 in the House, and make an eloquent ex- 
 position and apology for the Jacobinical 
 creed of his friends. We cannot doubt 
 that, had a bunch of leeks been suddenly 
 
WALLADMOK. l63 
 
 presented to his lordship at this moment, 
 his face would have crimsoned with a blush 
 as deep as that of the red night-cap which 
 apparently is the object of his homage; 
 for surely no hostility can be deeper than 
 that between the badge of jacobinism and 
 this antique symbol of honor, good faith, 
 and loyal brotherhood, and reverence for 
 the dust of our forefathers. 
 
 " How now, landlord" — said the reformer 
 — " Is this absurd, superstitious, comme- 
 moration of St. David's day never to cease ? " 
 
 " Have a care, My. Dulberry : don't talk 
 too loud. There's some of our country 
 friends outside, that, if they should over- 
 hear you, might take a fancy for trying 
 the strength of your head with ice-clods — 
 or put you under the pump." 
 
 " Or perhaps," said the manager, *' give 
 you a leek to eat ; and not in so courtly a 
 manner as I once saw Fluellen administer 
 his leek to Pistol on the London boards ; 
 the part of Fluellen on that particular 
 m2 
 
164 WALLADMOR. 
 
 night by Garrick ; to whom, by the way, 
 in that part I was myself considered equal." 
 
 *' All rank superstition, trash, and mum- 
 mery from the days of darkness and barba- 
 rism," continued Dulberry. " And hence 
 it comes that sound principles make so little 
 progress in Wales. As if we hadn't red- 
 letter days in the calendar more than 
 enough already from national and general 
 superstition, but these local superstitions 
 must step in to add another. Gentlemen ! 
 it seems to me that Parliament should put 
 a stop to all bell-ringing, wearing of leeks, 
 flaunting about with ribbons, and flocking 
 together in the street. Suppose, gentle- 
 men, we should have an Address prepared 
 against leeks." 
 
 " No addresses," Mr. Dulberry, said the 
 landlord, " for this day at any rate ! Sir 
 Morgan Walladmor would send the beadle 
 to you with a rod of nettles, if he was to 
 hear of such a thing : for he doats upon 
 the leek and St. David's da v. This is one 
 
WALLADMOR. 165 
 
 of liis great jollification days : and he sends 
 bread, meat, drink, coals, and money, to 
 every poor cottage for a dozen miles round : 
 nay, I may go farther and tell no lie : for 
 though the baronet's an old man now, and 
 has had some sorrow to bear of his own, by 
 his good will there shouldn't be a sad heart 
 in Machynleth on St. David's day ; and 
 that's five and twenty long miles from 
 Castle Walladmor." 
 
 " Abominable despotism ! and the poor 
 oppressed creatures do actually swallow his 
 drink?" 
 
 " Swallow it ? Aye, Mr. Dulberry, it's 
 no physic." 
 
 " And they dance too, I suppose ?" 
 
 " Every mother's child of them, Mr. 
 Didberry : not a soul but'll dance to-day ex- 
 cept babies and cripples. Lord ! Mr. Dul- 
 berry, if you don't like to see poor labouring 
 folks happy for one day in the year, I'll tell 
 you this — you must keep out of Machynleth 
 on St. David's day." 
 
166 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Well ! this tyranny goes beyond any 
 thing Fve seen : we all know that Lord 
 Londonderry has compelled Manchester and 
 all England to wear mourning : but this 
 rustic tp*ant is determined to make people 
 merry when, as every body must know, they 
 want to cry." 
 
 " Come, come, Sir, the Baronet's a good 
 man and no tyrant ; though he may have 
 his fancies and his faults, like the rest of 
 us : but we most of us like him pretty 
 well, tenants and all : and, as to his niece 
 — Miss Genevieve, I believe there's not 
 many between this and the Castle but would 
 go through fire and water for her." 
 
 " Sir Morgan Walladmor," said Alder- 
 man Gravesand, " is a wise man ; and, in 
 these times of change and light-minded- 
 ness, he sticks up for ancient customs. 
 It's a pity but there were more sucli." 
 
 '' Aye and he's a clever man," added the 
 landlord, " and knows how to tack with the 
 wind : for, let who would be in or out of 
 
WALLADMOR. 16? 
 
 the ministry, he has still been the king's 
 lientcnant for these two counties of Carnar- 
 von and ^lerioneth ever since I can think 
 on." 
 
 " There you're wrong, landlord," — re- 
 plied the Aldeniian : '' Sir IMorgan never 
 shifts or tacks for any body : he's a staunch 
 Whig like all his ancestors from 1688 ; 
 and, though he doesn't go up to Parlia- 
 ment now so often as he did in his younger 
 days, yet there has never been a Tory ad- 
 mhiistration but Sir jMorgan Walladmor 
 has opposed it so far as he thought honor- 
 able ; that is to say, he has opposed it on 
 the fine old Whig principles of the Russels 
 — the Cavendishes — and the Spencers." 
 
 ** And why doesn't he go up to Parlia- 
 ment, rd be glad to know ? " said Dul- 
 berry : " What the d — 1 does he stay here 
 for, like a ruminating beast chewing the cud 
 of his youthful patriotism? Because he 
 has got some pleasant sinecure for himself, 
 I suppose — and some comfortable places for 
 
168 WALLADMOR. 
 
 his sons, his grandsons, his nephews, and 
 his cousins." 
 
 " I'll tell you, Mr. Dulberry, why he 
 doesn't go up to Parliament," said Alderman 
 Gravesand ; " not, as you say, out of con- 
 sideration for his sons, grandsons, nephews, 
 and cousins ; for he happens to have 
 neither son, grandson, nephew, nor cousin : 
 — not, as you say, to preserve his own si- 
 necures ; for he has never had a shilling 
 for his services ; nor any reward at all from 
 the state, except indeed what a man like Sir 
 Morgan thinks the greatest of all rewards 
 — the thanks of Parliament, and the ap- 
 probation of his Sovereign : not, as you 
 say, to take his ease and pleasure, for he has 
 troubles enough of his own to keep him 
 waking at Walladmor House as much as 
 if he were in St. James's-square : — these are 
 not his reasons, Mr. Dulberry. But now 
 I'll tell you what is : — There are just now 
 in London and elsewhere a set of presump- 
 tuous — illiterate — mechanical rogues who 
 
WALLADMOR. 169 
 
 take upon themselves to be the defenders 
 of Old England and her liberties; and 
 tliey have made the very name of liberty 
 ridiculous : and all the old authentic cham- 
 pions of constitutional rights in Parliament 
 or elsewhere shrink back in shame from 
 the oj)probrium of seeming to make com- 
 mon cause with a crew so base and mecha- 
 nical. And, if there were any person of 
 that stamp here, and he were to take liber- 
 ties with better men than himself, — I would 
 take him by the shoulder just as I do you, 
 Mr. Dulberry ; and I would pin him down 
 into his chair ; and I would say to him — 
 ' Thou ridiculous reformer, if I hear a 
 word of insolence from thy lips against 
 our worthy lord lieutenant, I will most 
 unceremoniously toss thee neck and heels 
 out of the window.' For a day of peace 
 and festivity that w^ould be an unsuitable 
 spectacle : and therefore glad I am that I 
 see no such ridiculous person before me, 
 but on the contrary my worthy old friend 
 and acquaintance Samuel Dulberry." 
 
170 WALLA DiMOIl. 
 
 The reformer made no manual re})ly to 
 this significant threat ; but contented him- 
 self with turning his back contemptuously 
 on the Alderman — at the same time utter- 
 ing these words : 
 
 " Well, Mr. Gravesand, serve your master 
 after your own fashion : what is it to me ? 
 Carry his lap-dogs ; fondle his cats ; fawn 
 upon his spaniels : what care I ? But " 
 
 What dreadful form of commination 
 hung pendant upon this ' But,' was never 
 known : for precisely at this moment, and 
 most auspiciously for the general harmony 
 of the company, the reformer's eloquence 
 was cut short by a joyous uproar of voices 
 " They're coming ! they're coming ! " And 
 immediately a sea-like sound of glad 
 tumultuous crowds, in advance of the pro- 
 cession, swelled upon the ear from the open 
 door : every window was flung up in a 
 moment : mothers were hurrying with their 
 infants ; fathers were raising their lads and 
 lasses on their shouldeis : the thunders of 
 
WALLADMOll. 171 
 
 the lord lieutenant's band began to peal 
 from a distance : in half a minute the head 
 of the procession appeared in view wheeling 
 round the corner : heads after heads, horses 
 after horses, in never-ending succession, 
 kept pouring round into the street : the 
 whole market-place filled as with the influx 
 of a spring tide : and all eyes were turned 
 upon the ceremonial part of the procession, 
 which now began to unfold its pomp. 
 
 First came the Snowdon archers, two and 
 two, in their ancient uniform * of green and 
 white, in number one hundred and twenty. 
 Immediately behind them rode a young man 
 in black and crimson, usually called Golden- 
 Spear from the circumstance of his carrying 
 the gilt spear of Harlech Castle, with which, 
 by the custom, he is to ride into Machyn- 
 leth church at a certain part of the service 
 on St. David's day, and into Dolgelly church 
 on the day of Pentecost, and there to strike 
 
 * See Ap Howcl De Lege Principal, per Forestam et Chasam 
 Snowd. hactenus recepta ; Hist, of the Gwedir Fam. &c. 
 
172 WALLADMOll. 
 
 three times against 'Traitors' grave'*" with a 
 certain form of adjm*ation in three lan- 
 guages. After him came the rangers of 
 Penmorfa, all mounted, and riding four 
 abreast. They were in number about 
 eighty-four ; and wore, as usual, a uniform 
 of w^atchet (L e. azure) and white — with 
 horse-cloths and housings of the same 
 colors : — and the ancient custom had been 
 that all the horses should be white : this 
 rule had been relaxed in later times from 
 the poverty of the Penmorfa people in con- 
 sequence of repeated irruptions of the sea, 
 but was now restored, with brilliant effect 
 on the coloring of the procession, by the 
 liberality of Sir I\I organ Walladmor. Next 
 after these rode the sheriff of Merioneth- 
 shire and his billmen, all in ancient 
 costume : and then came the most interest- 
 ing part of the cavalcade. On St. David's 
 day it had always been the custom that the 
 Bishop of Bangor should send some reprc- 
 
 * For the legend of the Two Traitors, vid, Ap HowcU ubi 
 supia. 
 
WALLADMOR. 173 
 
 sentative to do suit and service for a manor 
 which he held of the house of Walladmor : 
 and the usage was — that, if there were an 
 heir male to that ancient house, the Bishop 
 sent four young men who carried falcons 
 perched on their wrists ; but, if the pre- 
 sumptive claimant of the Walladmor honors 
 and estates were a female, in that case he 
 sent four young girls who carried doves. 
 Both the doves and the falcons had an 
 allusion to the arms of the Walladmors • 
 and for some reason, in the present year. 
 Sir JMorgan had chosen himself to add the 
 four falcons and their bearers to the Bishop's 
 doves. These were arranged in the follow- 
 ing manner. Four beautiful girls drest 
 altogether in white, without bonnets, and 
 having no head-dress but white caps, were 
 ranged in line with the fom* falcon-bearers, 
 who were young boys dressed in complete 
 suits of bishop's purple and purj^le mantles : 
 all the eight rode on white horses: and imme- 
 diately behind them came akind of triumphal 
 
174 WALLADMOK. 
 
 car, low but very spacious, and carrying 
 Sir IMorgan's five domestic harpers and the 
 silver harps which they had won in the 
 contests first introduced under Queen Eli- 
 zabeth's reform in 1567 : behind the car 
 again rode five horsemen on gigantic horses 
 carrying the five banners of the five several 
 castles belonging to Sir INIorgan in Wales. 
 The banners were so managed as to droop 
 over the heads of the young women and 
 boys : and thus the doves, the falcons, their 
 beautiful bearers, the white horses, the 
 venerable harpers and their silver harps, 
 were all gathered as it were into one central 
 group by means of the banners of purple 
 and gold which spread their fine floating 
 draperies above them all. 
 
 This was the centre of the procession : 
 but immediately in advance of this part 
 (f. e. between it and the sheriff's party) rode 
 the two presiding persons of the ceremony ; 
 and who in that character, as well as for the 
 interest connected with their own appear- 
 
WALLADMOR. 175 
 
 ancc, coiniiiandcd universal attention. — 
 Immediately before the falcon-bearers, and 
 mounted upon a grey charger, rode a tall 
 meagre man in a dress well fitted to raise 
 laughter in the spectator and with a coun- 
 tenance well fitted to repress it. This 
 was Sir Morgan Walladmor. His dress was 
 an embroidered suit something in the fashion 
 of the French court during the regency of 
 the Duke of Orleans in the minority of 
 Louis the Fifteenth ; and having been worn 
 by the baronet in his youth upon some 
 memorable occasion, where it had either 
 aided his then handsome person in making 
 a conquest or in some other way had con- 
 nected itself with remembrances that were 
 affecting to him, he never would wear 
 
 this dress on any day but St. David's 
 
 nor on that day would ever wear any other. 
 The dress was sacred to the festival ; which, 
 like all joyous ceremonials and commemo- 
 rations, to those who are advanced in years 
 bring with tliem some sorrow blended with 
 
176 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 their joy. In such sorrow however, where it 
 is a simple tribute of natural regrets to the 
 images of vanished things, and the fleeting 
 records of poor transitory man, there is 
 often an overbalance of pleasure. But the 
 merest stranger, who read the features of 
 Sir Morgan Walladmor with a discerning 
 eye, might see a history written there of a 
 sorrow that went deeper than that — a 
 sorrow not tempered by any pleasure. On 
 ordinary occasions this was the predominant 
 expression of his countenance — mixed how- 
 ever at all times with something of a 
 humorous aspect, a half fantastic sense of 
 the ludicrous, and perhaps a few reliques of 
 that sternness which at one time was said to 
 have had some place in the composition of 
 his character. But this had long given 
 way to the influences of time and the 
 softning hand of aflliction : all harshness, 
 that might once have thrown a shade over 
 the milder graces of his character, was now 
 removed : and on tliis day, above all days in 
 
WALLADMOR. 1 77 
 
 the year, his heart had no leisure for any 
 feelings but those of kindness — dilated as 
 it was by the old ancestral glories that were 
 revived and shadowed forth in the pomps 
 before him. Every part of the ceremonial to 
 his eye was rich with meaning and sym- 
 bolic language : and in the eye of the rudest 
 of his countrymen he saw this language 
 repeated and reflected — the language of 
 exulting national pride, with a personal 
 application to himself as its chief local 
 representative. Apart from these patriotic 
 feelings, Sir Morgan was capable of enjoy- 
 ing that purest of all happiness which is 
 reflected from the spectacle of happiness in 
 others : he was besides now riding for the 
 sixtieth time in this annual procession, 
 having begun to ride when he was no more 
 than ^ve years old : and finally Sir Morgan 
 was a gentleman in the most emphatic 
 sense of that emphatic word. Hence it 
 arose that his manners on this occasion were 
 more than merely courteous or condescend- 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
17B WALLADMOR. 
 
 ing ; all thought of condescension was lost 
 and forgotten in the expression of paternal 
 benignity with which he looked on those 
 around him : the meanest and the highest, 
 the youngest and oldest, came in alike for 
 the salutation of his eye: to the poorest 
 cottagers, as he past, he bowed and smiled 
 with an air of cordial sincerity that allowed 
 no thought of artifice : and young and old, 
 man and woman, all smiled with delighted 
 faces and happy confidence as they bowed 
 and curtsied in return. 
 
 As he passed under the inn, Sir Morgan 
 threw up his eyes to the upper windows ; 
 and, observing them thickly crowded with 
 strangers, he moved with a courtly polite- 
 ness — at the same time smiling archly but 
 goodnaturedly as his eye caught that of ]\f r. 
 Dulberry, whose character as a refonner 
 had reached him ; and who at this moment 
 was the only one amongst the gentlemen 
 present that stood bolt upright, and pro- 
 claimed his radical patriotism by refusing to 
 
WALLADMOR. 179 
 
 acknowledge the lord lieutenant's salutation. 
 Impressive as Sir Morgan's aspect and cos- 
 tume were, the attention of every body how- 
 ever was at this moment drawn off to his 
 youthful companion, who just now turned her 
 eyes with a hurried glance on the inn — but 
 immediately withdrew them, as she observed 
 the crowd of gentlemen at the windows. 
 All the strangers were aware that this was 
 the baronet's niece ; who was now an object 
 of sufficient interest from the disclosures of 
 the preceding night, even though she had 
 been less attractive in her person. 
 
 Sorrow in IVIiss Walladmor wore its most 
 touching shape : as yet it had made no 
 ravages in her beauty ; and, if it had laid 
 a hand of gentle violence upon her health, it 
 had as yet cropped only the luxuriance of 
 her youthful charms. It was clear to every 
 eye that Miss Walladmor was not one of 
 those persons who surrender themselves un- 
 resisting victims to dejection, and sink with- 
 out a struggle into premature valctudina- 
 
 N 2 
 
180 WALLADMOR. 
 
 riaiis. Somewhat indeed her early acquaint- 
 ance with grief had dimmed the lustre of 
 her fine blue eyes ; and had given a pensive 
 timidity to her manner. But, if her eye 
 were less bright, it was still full of spirit 
 and intelligence : and, if the roses were 
 stolen from her cheek, her paleness was 
 rather the paleness of thought than of con- 
 stitutional languor ; or to express it in the 
 exquisite lines of a modern poet, if she 
 wore * a pale face ' it was however a pale 
 face 
 
 that seem'd undoubtedly 
 
 As if a blooming face it ought to be : ' 
 
 and her whole person and deportment ex- 
 pressed that naturally she was of redundant 
 health and gaiety, but suffering under the 
 shocks of a trial to which she liad been 
 summoned too early for her youthful forti- 
 tude. 
 
 Having mounted on horseback only at 
 the entrance of IMachynleth, ]\Iiss Wallad- 
 mor did not wear a riding-habit ; but had 
 
WALLADMOR. 181 
 
 gratified her uncle by assuming the plain 
 white morning dress, white ribbons, and 
 cap, which ancient custom had consecrated 
 to the occasion ; adding only, in considera- 
 tion of the frosty day, an ermine tippet. 
 The horse she rode was a white palfrey of 
 the beautiftd breed so much valued by 
 Charles I. ; and in fact traced its pedigre 
 from the famous TVhite Rose which had 
 been presented by the sister of that prince 
 [the Electress Palatine] to an ancestor of 
 Sir Morgan's, who had attended her to 
 Heidelberg. At the moment of passing 
 the inn, — one of the doves, which IMiss 
 Walladmor had been in the habit of feed- 
 ing, quitted the hand of the young bearer 
 behind, and perched upon the shoulder of 
 her mistress ; making up a picture of inno- 
 cent beauty somewhat fanciful and alle- 
 goric, but not on that account the less fitted 
 to harmonize with the antique pageantries 
 of this heraldic solemnity. 
 
 Such were the two central and presiding 
 
182 WALLADMOR. 
 
 figures : every eye strained after them, and 
 all that followed was unnoticed : the bai- 
 liff of Talyllyn with the surcoat, and the 
 silver spurs of Llewellyn ; the high con- 
 stable of Aber-glas-llyn, with his gor- 
 geous display of antique liveries ; the tawny 
 coats of the Bishop of St. Asaph, who came 
 to ride the boundaries of the old episcopal 
 demesne of Aberkilvie, in company with 
 the retainers of Sir Morgan ; the JMayor 
 and Corporation of Machynleth, in their 
 crimson robes ; — all alike passed unheeded: 
 and the spectators were first roused from the 
 fascination of the departing spectacle by the 
 clangor of the band, which with the Bar- 
 mouth sea-fencibles — two troops of dragoons 
 and the cortege of the SheriflP of Carnarvon- 
 shire brought up the rear of the cavalcade. 
 
 As fast as the procession cleared the 
 ground, with the fluent motion of water, 
 the crowd closed up in its wake — all eager 
 to press after it into the church. Bertram, 
 who had shared deeply in the general admi- 
 
WALLADMOR. 183 
 
 ration and pity expressed for Miss Wallad- 
 mor, sympathized no less with the national 
 feeling belonging to the day. Who can 
 blame him ? The spectacle of a whole 
 multitude swayed by one feeling, however 
 little the object of that feeling may be 
 approved by the judgment of the spectator, 
 appeals irresistibly to his sympathies, if he 
 be not more than usually cold-hearted : and 
 I remember well that, though myself a 
 faithfid son of the 8cotish church, I was 
 once seduced by such an occasion into an 
 involuntary act of idolatrous compliance 
 with popery. It was at Orleans : the day 
 was splendid : the bells proclaimed a festi- 
 val : a vast procession of a mixed composi- 
 tion, rehgious and military, was stream- 
 ing tow^ards the cathedral ; and by a moral 
 compulsion, rather than by any physical 
 pressure of the crowd, I was swept along 
 into the general vortex. Suddenly an angle 
 of the road brought me into such a posi- 
 tion with respect to all who were in ad- 
 
184 WALLADMOR. 
 
 vance of my station, that I could see the 
 whole vast line bent into the form of a cre- 
 scent, and with its head entering at the 
 great-doors of the cathedral: I gazed on the 
 tossing of the plumes and the never ending 
 dance of heads succeeding to heads as they 
 plunged into what seemed the dark abysses 
 of the church : one after one I beheld the 
 legions and their eagles, the banners and 
 the lilies of France swallowed up by the 
 cathedral: then, as I came nearer and 
 nearer, I could hear the great blair of the 
 organ — throwing off its clouds of ascending 
 music, like incense fuming from an altar : 
 nearer still I could look through the high 
 portals into the nave of the church, and 
 could distinguish the opposite windows 
 storied with gorgeous emblazonries of saints 
 and martyrs, angels and archangels, whilst 
 above them were seen the Madonna, and 
 " the Lamb of God " with the cross ; and 
 through the upper panes streamed in 
 the golden rays of the sun, and the blue 
 
WxVLLADMOR. 185 
 
 liglit of the unfathomable heavens : then, 
 as I myself was entering, suddenly the 
 shattering trumpet-stop was opened ; and 
 I heard the full choir singing the great 
 anthem of Pergolesi — " And the Dead shall 
 arise:'* at w^hich instant I also wept with 
 the multitude, and acknowledged a com- 
 mon faith and a common hope : and for a 
 moment I will confess that I apostatized 
 to the church of Rome for the sake of 
 her pomps and vanities ; a sin which I 
 trust is forgiven me, as I can assure the 
 chvu'ch of Scotland that it is the single 
 occasion throughout my life on which I 
 have had any wanderings of thought from 
 her pure and orthodox creed. 
 
 Under a similar impulse, caught from the 
 contagion of public enthusiasm, Bertram 
 pressed after the procession into the church. 
 He was carried by the crowd into a situa- 
 tion from which he could overlook the 
 entire nave which was in the simplest 
 style of Gothic architecture and naked of 
 
186 WALLADMOR. 
 
 all the ornaments which belong to the 
 florid Gothic of a later age. The massy 
 pillars were left unviolated hy the petty 
 hand of household neatness : they stood 
 severe in monumental granite, unwhite- 
 washed, unstuccoed, without tricks or frip- 
 pery. All the gingerbread work of plinths 
 to the base, or fretted cornices to the 
 capitals, had been banished by the aus- 
 terity of the presiding taste. And it struck 
 Bertram also, as a picturesque circum- 
 stance in the whole effect and at the same 
 time a circumstance of rude grandeur 
 which well accorded with the spirit of the 
 architecture, that there was no ceiling : 
 the whole was open to the slates ; and the 
 vast beams and joists of oak, which had 
 been laid for upwards of four hundred years, 
 were clearly distinguishable. Below these 
 were suspended antique banners which float- 
 ed at times in the currents of air : and all 
 the pillars were hung with shields, helmets, 
 shirts of mail, and other ancient records of 
 
WALLADMOR. 187 
 
 warlike achievements — arranged in the 
 manner of trophies. All these were covered 
 with venerahle dust, the deposition of cen- 
 turies, which no loyal-hearted Welchman 
 would on any account have disturbed. 
 
 The service, as is usual at Machynleth 
 — at Bangor Cathedral and other great 
 churches in North Wales, was partly per- 
 fonned in Welch and partly in English. 
 The singing, which was fine and supported 
 by an organ of prodigious power, was 
 chiefly of a triumphant and (as it appeared 
 to Bertram) almost martial character. Just 
 before the sermon however an ancient 
 ceremony showed that, if the religion of the 
 day clothed itself in the attire of earthly 
 pride and exultation, the martial patriot- 
 ism of Wales could sometimes soar into a 
 religious expression. The people divided 
 to the right and the left, leaving a lane 
 from the great door : a trumpet sounded ; 
 and in rode Golden-spear, lance in rest,, 
 the wliole length of the nave — passed into 
 
188 WALLADMOR. 
 
 the choir — and halted before a monument 
 of black marble. He paused for a few 
 moments : then cried with a loud voice in 
 Welch, English, and Latin, " Bastard of 
 Walladmor ! " to which summons the choir 
 sang a penitential antiphony. Then he 
 raised his spear and struck the outside of 
 the tomb : to which again the organ mut- 
 tered and the choir sang a response. Then 
 a second time he raised the golden spear, 
 and plunged it through an iron grating 
 which occupied the place of heart in the stony 
 figure of a knight recumbent on the tomb : 
 the spear sank within a foot of the head : and 
 again the organ muttered some sad tones ; 
 after which he pronounced these words : 
 
 " God, who in six days and seven nights 
 created heaven — and earth — the sea and all 
 that in them is, send up thy guilty soul 
 into this grave, so long as the sea and the 
 earth endure, on St. David's day ; — 
 annually to hear the message which I 
 bring from Walladmor and Harlech : — The 
 death, which thou gavcst to the Pagan dogs. 
 
AVALLADMOR. 189 
 
 was given in vain : the treason, which 
 should have trampled on the cross, was con- 
 founded by God's weak instruments a falcon 
 and a dove ; the crescent was dimmed at 
 Walladmor, and the golden spear prevailed 
 at Harlech : and the banner of Walladmor 
 is flying to this day : So let it fly until 
 Arthur shall come again in power and great 
 beauty : on which day thy treason be for- 
 given thee ! " 
 
 Thus having delivered his message to 
 the grave, — the herald drew forth his spear, 
 ported it, bowed to the altar, and turning 
 his horse rode back : and, as Golden -spear 
 issued from the choir, the organ and the 
 choristers commenced one of the chorusses 
 in Judas Maccabaeus. 
 
 Then followed the sermon which was in 
 Welch— but, as Bertram could distinguish, 
 full of allusions to the great names of 
 Wales ; and in fact as martial as any part 
 of the service, and to all appearance as grati- 
 fying to the patriotic fervour of the audi- 
 
190 WALLADMOR. 
 
 ence. That finished, the rival thunders of 
 the organ within and the martial hand 
 without gave notice that the procession was 
 on its return. 
 
M'ALLADMOR. 191 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 Charmi. Sir, I may move the court to serve your will ; 
 
 But therein shall but wrong you and myself. 
 Rom. Why think you so, sir ? 
 Charmi. 'Cause I am familiar 
 
 With what will be their answer : They will say 
 
 'Tis against law ; and argue me of ignorance 
 
 For offering them the motion. 
 Rom. You know not, sir, 
 
 How in this case they may dispense with law ; 
 
 And therefore frame not you their answer for them, 
 
 But do your parts. 
 
 Massinger and Field : — Fatal Dowry. 
 
 With the hope of again seeing IMiss 
 Walladmor and her uncle, Bertram was 
 attempting to make his way up to the cen- 
 tre of the procession. So many others how- 
 ever had precisely the same object in view, 
 that he was likely to have found it a matter 
 of some difficulty to pierce the dense array 
 of foot and horse passengers. Suddenly at 
 this moment he found himself tapped on 
 the shoulder by somebody who stood be- 
 
192 WALLADMOR. 
 
 hind ; and, turning round, he perceived 
 Mr. Dulberry. 
 
 " Come with me," said Dulberry ; " and 
 I will show you a short cut by the back way : 
 jump a hedge or two, and trespass over a 
 few silly old women's potato gardens, and 
 we shall be at the inn before the procession 
 arrives." 
 
 " It will pass the inn then on its return? " 
 
 " I suppose so ; but w^hat need you or I 
 care for such absurd mummeries ? Good 
 God ! to think of the money that might 
 have been earned by all these horses if they 
 had been spending the day creditably and 
 honestly in ploughing and tilling the 
 land; whereas now " 
 
 " Ploughing, JNIr. Dulberry ! but surely 
 it's not the season just now, with the ground 
 frozen as deep as it is, for rural labours of 
 that sort." 
 
 " Well, no matter : there's work enough 
 for horses amongst dyers, tanners, and such 
 
WALLADMOR. 193 
 
 people. By the way, did you ever hear of 
 my machine for teazing wool ? Wonderful 
 invention ! horse labor entirely superseded : 
 a little steam, and a man or two, — give me 
 these, and I'll teaze the whole world. Won- 
 derful the progress of the human intellect 
 since the time of Archimedes ! — But no 
 doubt you are acquainted with my teazing 
 machine ? " 
 
 " In fact I have that honor : or rather — 
 what am I saying ? I beg your pardon ; that 
 particular teazing machine of yours, which 
 you now allude to, I have not the honor of 
 knowing at all." 
 
 " Ah ? but then you should ; the sooner 
 the better : for no man can be said to have 
 finished his education who is not well 
 acquainted with my teazing machine. In 
 fact it has had a great influence on the 
 literature of this country. For the ode to 
 my teazing machine, which is generally 
 regarded as the most finished production of 
 the English lyric muse " 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
194 WALLADMOr.. 
 
 Here j\Ir. Dulbeny was interrupted by a 
 hedge which it was necessary to leap ; and 
 Bertram remai'ked, that in spite of the con- 
 tempt which he professed for unprofitable 
 show and '' mummery," the reformer bestir- 
 red himself as actively and took a hedge as 
 nimbly as the youngest lad could have done 
 under the fear of missing any part of the 
 spectacle. On reaching the inn however 
 they learned that their labor was thrown 
 away. One part of the procession had gone 
 off by different routes to ride the boundaries 
 of lordships and perform other annual cere- 
 monies : part had dispersed : and another 
 part had accompanied Sir IMorgan to the 
 town hall of IMachynleth — where a Welsh 
 court-of-grace was held, according to imme- 
 morial precedent, for receiving petitions, 
 granting extraordinary favors or dispensa- 
 tions, and redi'essing any complaints against 
 the agents of Sir Morgan (as lord of Wallad- 
 mor and many other manors) in their vari- 
 ous feudal duties. At this coiurt it was Sir 
 
WALLADlNrOK. 195 
 
 Morgan's cuBtom to preside in person. As 
 to Miss Walladmor, she, it appeared, had got 
 into her carriage at the church door ; was 
 gone ofF to make some calls in the neigh- 
 bourhood ; and was not expected to pass 
 through JMachynleth on her road back to 
 ^Valladmor Castle before dark. 
 
 After taking some refreshment, Dulbeny 
 proposed to Bertram that they should ad- 
 journ to the Town HalL On entering the 
 court-room, they were both surprized to 
 observe the phlegmatic Dutchman addi'ess- 
 ing Sir Morgan in the character of peti- 
 tioner. They caught enough of his closing 
 words to understand that the gite of his 
 petition was to obtain the baronet's sanc- 
 tion for the regular and Christian interment 
 of some foreigner who had died at sea. 
 
 " By all means, I\Ir. Van der Velsen," — 
 replied Sir Morgan, " by all means : there 
 needs no petition: Wales, I thank God, 
 has never failed in any point of hospitality 
 to jx)or strangers who were thrown upon 
 o 2 
 
196 WALLADMOR. 
 
 her kindness : much less could she betray 
 her religious duties to the dead. But what 
 is the name of the deceased ? " " Sare 
 Morgan," replied the Dutchman, " de pauvre 
 man fos not Welsherman : to him Got fos 
 not gif so moch honneur : he no more dan 
 pauvre Jack Frenshman. Bot vat den ? 
 He goot Christen man, sweet — lovely — 
 charmant man ; des plus aimables ; oh ! 
 fos beautiful man of war ! " 
 
 " But what was his name, I ask, Mr, 
 Van der Velsen ? " 
 
 " De name ? de name ? oh ! de name is 
 le Harnois ; Monsieur le Harnois ; he fos 
 Captain au service de Sa Majeste Tres 
 Chretienne." 
 
 Bertram started with surprize : but he 
 controlled his astonishment, and attended 
 to what followed from Sir IMorgan. 
 
 " Well, Mr. Van der Velsen, Frenchman 
 or not, I know of no possible objection to 
 his being decently buried. In the church- 
 yard of Aberkilvie, which lies by the sea- 
 
WALLADMOR. 197 
 
 side about eighteen miles from this place, 
 there are bodies of all nations- Diitcli, 
 English, Danes, Spaniards, and no doubt 
 Frenchmen — flung upon our shores by ship- 
 wreck or other accidents of mortality. By 
 all means let the French Captain be honour- 
 ably interred at Aberkilvie." 
 
 " Tank, Sare Morgan, moch tank : bot — 
 hot, Sare, dare is anoder leetle ting." 
 
 " And what is that, Sir ? " 
 
 Here another friend of the deceased step- 
 ped forward and briefly stated that Captain 
 le Harnois was a Roman Catholic ; and 
 that his son therefore naturally wished to 
 bury him in a Catholic burying-ground. 
 
 " But where is there such a burying- 
 ground ? " asked Sir Morgan : " I know of 
 none but the chapel of Utragan, where no- 
 body has been buried since the wars of the 
 Two Roses : and now, I am sorry to say, it is 
 used as a potato ground." 
 
 " If the lord lieutenant would permit us to 
 
198 WALLADMORe 
 
 can-y the deceased so far inland, there is the 
 consecrated ground of Griffith ap Gaiivon." 
 
 " True : there is Ap Gauvon certainly : 
 I had forgot. Well, be it so : let Captain 
 le Harnois be buried in one of the chapels 
 at Ap Gauvon.** 
 
 " Tank, Sare, moch tank," said the 
 Dutchman: " but dare is 'noder leetle ting:" 
 and then he explained in substance, that 
 as the Captain had died at sea, all his friends 
 were apprehensive that the officers of the 
 Customs and Excise woidd insist on search- 
 ing the hearse and coffin ; an indignity 
 which would grievously wound the feelings 
 of his son and all his family ; and which 
 could not be viewed in France in any other 
 light than as an insult unworthy of a great 
 and liberal nation to the memory of a brave 
 officer who had the honor to serve His Most 
 Christian IVIajesty. 
 
 " I am sorry for it," said Sir jMorgan : 
 " but in this point it is quite impossible for 
 
WALLADMOll. 199 
 
 me to be of any service. The coast here- 
 abouts has been so much resorted to of late 
 years by smuggling vessels, that the officers 
 of the revenue are reasonably very strict : 
 and the law is imperative." 
 
 " But this officer," said the English 
 spokesman, " this Captain le Harnois — if 
 you will condescend to listen to me. Sir 
 Morgan Walladmor, — was a man of honor 
 and of known integrity. I might go fur- 
 ther : he was a religious man, and distin- 
 guished for his Catholic devotion : was he 
 not, Herr Van der Velsen ? " 
 
 " Oh var moch religious : as for a man 
 of war, he fos beautiful christen : he cry 
 moch for sin, often dat I see him : all de 
 leetle prayer, and all de leetle hymn, he 
 sing dem all one — two — tree — quatre — 
 noine — time per day. De word dat de haf 
 all time in his mout, to me and to oder 
 men, fos deese : * Let all ting be char man t, 
 lufly, Bourbonish^ and religious.' Oh ! for 
 
200 WALLADMOll. 
 
 de salt-water christen, he was beautiful : — 
 beautiful man of war." 
 
 " I doubt it not, gentlemen," — said Sir 
 IMorgan ; " and am happy to hear such an 
 account of the Captain's piety, which will 
 now be of more service to him than all the 
 honors we could render to his poor earthly 
 remains. Not that I would countenance 
 any person in offering them an indignity, 
 if I could see how it were to be avoided." 
 
 " We are all sure that you would not," 
 said the Englishman : " the name of Wal- 
 ladmor is a pledge for every thing that is 
 high-minded and liberal. And in this case 
 young le Harnois, the captain's son, was 
 the more induced to hope for the indul- 
 gence desired, because the deceased was a 
 man of family and connected with the 
 highest blood in Europe. In particular, he 
 had the honor to be distantly related to the 
 house of Walladmor." 
 
 " Ah ? " said Sir Morgan, *" in what 
 way ? " 
 
WALLADMOll. 201 
 
 " Through the Montmorencies. It is 
 notorious to all Europe that there is an old 
 connexion between the Walladmors and the 
 Montmorencies : and the family of le Har- 
 nois is nearly connected by the female side 
 with the Montmorencies." 
 
 " Undoubtedly," said Sir Morgan, " my 
 family have more than once intermarried 
 with the Montmorencies. Undoubtedly : 
 what you say is very true, gentlemen. And 
 as this is the case, I will not deny that I 
 am disposed to view your petition favoura- 
 bly. Some indulgence — some considera- 
 tion — is certainly due to the blood of the 
 Montmorencies. Let me think a mo- 
 ment." Then, after a pause, he added — 
 " Well, gentlemen, I will grant you the 
 dispensation you ask. You shall have my 
 order to the officers of the Customs and 
 Excise for the undisturbed passage of the 
 funeral train to Griffith ap Gauvon. I will 
 take the whole responsibility on myself; 
 and this evening I will write to the LordvS 
 
 ^ 
 
 X. 
 
202 WALLADMOR. 
 
 of the Treasury and the Home Secretary, 
 to prevent any misstatement of the matter. 
 Davies, make out the order; and I will 
 sign it." 
 
 Both the appellants made their acknow- 
 ledgments to Sir Morgan in the warmest 
 terms ; and, having received the order, to- 
 gether with an assurance from Sir ]\Iorgan 
 that he should send down a carriage from 
 Walladmor House to meet the funeral on 
 the sea-shore, and pay the last honors to 
 the poor gentleman's remains, — they bowed 
 profoundly, and quitted the court. 
 
 Bertram meantime, who had so recently 
 parted with Captain le Harnois in apparent 
 good health, had been at first thoroughly 
 confounded by this unexpected intelligence 
 of his death, until the portrait of the de- 
 ceased gentleman's piety — drawn by his 
 friends in such very flattering colors — 
 began to suggest a belief that certainly there 
 must be two Captains le Haniois, and pro- 
 bably therefore two descendants of the 
 
WALLADMOR. 20S 
 
 JMoiitmorencies, cruizing off the coast of 
 Wales. This belief again was put to flight 
 by * de word which he haf alway in his 
 mout ' as reported by Herr Van der Velsen. 
 Not knowing what to think, he followed 
 the two negociators ; and, addressing him- 
 self to the Dutchman, begged to know if 
 the deceased Captain, on whose behalf the 
 petition had just been presented to the 
 lord lieutenant, were that Captain le Har- 
 nois who commanded the Fleiu's-de-lys ? 
 
 " Oh Sare, ja : de var same, de pious 
 good christen Capitaine le Hamois." 
 
 " God bless me ! is it possible ? I parted 
 with him last night at five o'clock ; and I 
 protest I never saw a man look better in 
 my life. Dead ! Why it seems a thing in- 
 credible. At five o'clock yesterday, but 
 twenty-three hours ago, I declare to you, 
 i\Ir. Van der Velsen, that I saw him with a 
 keg of spirits by his side : and I'll venture 
 to say that he drank a glass of it every 
 three minutes." 
 
204 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Aye, alway he trank his physic at five 
 o'clock ; bot, Sare — mine dear Sare, all 
 would not save him : no ting would save 
 him : his time fos come." 
 
 " And what was his complaint, pray ? " 
 
 " Consumption." 
 
 " Consumption ! What Captain le Har- 
 nois' complaint consumption ? " 
 
 " Oh ! que oui, Sare : he complain moch 
 of consumption." 
 
 " Why he had good reason to complain 
 of it, if it killed him with so little warning. 
 But what sort of consumption? Consump- 
 tion of the brandy cask ? " 
 
 " Oh no, mine dear friend : consomp- 
 tion — what you call it ? — trotting consomp- 
 tion.** 
 
 '' Galloping consumption he means," said 
 the English coadjutor of Mr. Van der 
 Velsen. 
 
 " In good truth then it must have gal- 
 loped," said Bertram ; '* for last night " 
 
 " Well, Sir, no matter how or when, you 
 
WALLADMOR. 205 
 
 hear that the Captain is dead : we are not 
 his doctors, but his executors : and, if you 
 owe him any money, you will pay it to me 
 or to this gentleman. Or," — he added on 
 observing that Bertram laughed at such a 
 conceit as that of the worthy Captain's 
 having suffered any man to leave the 
 Fleurs-de-lys in his debt, — " Or, if you owe 
 nothing to his estate, perhaps out of love 
 you will join us to-morrow on the road to 
 Ap Gauvon : " and at the same time he put 
 into Bertram's hand a written paper of the 
 foUovsdng tenor, but without date or sub- 
 scription : 
 
 " In full confidence that you are a good 
 Christian, and that you patronize freedom 
 of trade, we hereby invite you to attend the 
 funeral of the late Captain le Harnois ; a 
 worthy Christian, and one who admired — 
 patronized — and personally promoted unli- 
 mited freedom of trade by every means in 
 his power. The place of rendezvous is 
 Huntingcross, near the sea-side by Aber- 
 
206 WALLADMOR. 
 
 kilvie ; the time nine in tlie moniing. If 
 any other engagement should interfere \vith 
 your attending at this hour and place, you 
 will be so good as to join vis on the road to 
 Griffith ap Gauvon. Finally, dear christian 
 brother, out of affection to the memory of 
 
 the deceased have the kindness to brino- 
 
 a cudgel with you not less than two inches 
 thick, and tliree and a half feet long." 
 
 Bertram mused a little on this last item 
 in the invitation : but, recollecting that it 
 might possibly be part of the etiquette in 
 Welsh funeral solemnities, and being at 
 any rate certain that the funeral had the 
 highest possible sanction, — he said at 
 length 
 
 " Well, gentlemen, — I cannot say that I 
 owe the deceased Captain any money, or 
 much love. But I bear no malice : and I 
 have a mind to see how funerals are con- 
 ducted in North Wales ; and Griffith ap 
 Gauvon, I now recollect, was one of the 
 places pointed out to me as best worth see- 
 
WALLADMOR. 207 
 
 ing in this part of the country. All things 
 considered therefore, if the morning should 
 prove fine, I will not fail to join you 
 somewhere on the road to Ap Gauvon." 
 
 At this point the conversation dropped ; 
 his two companions thanked him, and 
 turned off down a bye street — upon some 
 business connected with the preparations 
 for the ensuing day ; whilst Bertram pur- 
 sued the direct road to the inn. 
 
 By this time it was dusk : the cottage 
 windows were beginning to brighten with 
 the blazing fire within; crowds of men 
 were in the street elevated with Sir Mor- 
 gan's liquor ; and all the boys of Machyn- 
 leth were gathering into groups, and pre- 
 paring to let off their squibs and crackers 
 in honour of the day. On approaching the 
 inn, Bertram observed a carriage drawn up 
 to the door ; and a sudden blaze of light from 
 one of the torches, which now began to ap- 
 pear amongst the crowd, showed him the 
 figure of a young lady sitting inside. A 
 
208 WALLADMOR. 
 
 minute afterwards, one of the attendants lit 
 the carriage lamps ; in doing which, the 
 light of his candle illuminated the inside of 
 the carriage, and fell strongly upon a face 
 too beautiful and expressive to be forgotten 
 by any one who had once beheld it. Ber- 
 tram perceived that it was Miss Walladmor, 
 who was now on her return to Walladmor 
 House. 
 
 " She'll be off in a moment," said the 
 landlord : " she's only stopping to change 
 horses and get the lamps lit. The Lord 
 Lieutenant's horses, that brought her in 
 from the Castle in the forenoon, have been 
 a matter of thirty miles with her since 
 church-time on the other side the country ; 
 and that's near sixty in all. And so she 
 takes my horses on to Walladmor." 
 
 " And does Sir Morgan not accompany 
 her?" 
 
 " Oh ! lord, no : Sir Morgan always 
 dines with the Cwporation ; and he'll not 
 be on the road for these seven hours ; not 
 
WALLADMOn. 209 
 
 on this side of midnight, FIl warrant him. 
 This is St. David's day, I'd have you to 
 remember : and this I'll take upon me to 
 
 say ]\Iind, I name no names but 
 
 this I'll say, there's no man in IMachyn- 
 leth, gentle or simple, that will have the 
 face to be sober to-night when the clock 
 strikes twelve, nor any man that will 
 leave Machynleth sober after twelve. 
 What! do you take us for heathens? 
 Most of us have been drunk these four 
 hours agone ; and are ready to be drunk 
 again ; and there's not many here but will 
 have their eyes set in their heads in two 
 hours more. I'll answer for one." 
 
 " Well, but at least you'll except IMiss 
 Walladmor's servants, I hope." 
 
 " I'll except nobody j if ]Miss Walladmor 
 wants lads to drive her that are not drunk, 
 she must send for 'em to some other county : 
 she'll not find 'em in this. But she knows 
 that well enough. Lord love her ! there's 
 not a driver in the county, not a horse 
 
 VOL. r. p 
 
glO WALLADMOR. 
 
 almost nor any dumb creatm*e whatsomever, 
 that would bring IMiss Walladmor into any 
 danger. What ! the lads may be a little 
 * fresh' or so ; but they'll drive all the better 
 for that. There's that lad now : he's going 
 to ride the leaders ; and I'm much in doubt 
 whether he'll be able to mount. But if he 
 once gets fairly into the saddle, the devil 
 won't throw him out ; he'll sit like a leech all 
 the way from Carnarvonshire to Jerusalem." 
 Whether wrong or right in the latter 
 part of this prediction, the landlord was 
 certainly right in the former. For at this 
 moment the postillion had succeeded in put- 
 ting his foot into the stirrup, but in throw- 
 ing his leg over the horse's croupe, he 
 grazed his flank sharply with the spur — and, 
 from the instantaneous rearing and plung- 
 ing of the horse, was pretty nearly flung 
 under his feet. Drunk as the lad was, how- 
 ever, he had a sort of instinct for maintain- 
 ing or recovering any hold once gained that 
 soon enabled him to throw himself into the 
 saddle. But the danger was now past his 
 
WALLADMOU. 211 
 
 power to control : a shower of squibs and 
 crackers, which had been purposely reserved 
 by way of a valedictory salute to Miss Wal- 
 ladmor, were at this moment discharged ; 
 and one of them unfortunately fell under 
 the feet of the near leader. Previously 
 irritated, and now alarmed beyond measure 
 by the fireworks — the huzzas — and the flash- 
 ing lights, the horse became ungovernable ; 
 the contagion of panic spread; all were 
 plunging and kicking at once : the splinter- 
 bar was smashed to atoms ; and, the crowd 
 of by-standers being confused by the dark- 
 ness and the uncertain light, before any one 
 could lay hands upon them — the horses had 
 lurched to one side and placed the carriage 
 at the very edge of the road fenced off only 
 by a slender wooden railing of two feet 
 high from a precipice of forty feet, which 
 just at this place overhung the river. At 
 this instant a man, muffled up in a 
 dark cloak, whom Bertram, whilst talking 
 with the landlord, had repeatedly observed 
 p 2 
 
212 WALLADMOU. 
 
 walking about the carriage and looking 
 anxiously to the windows, sprang with the 
 speed of lightning to the leaders' heads — 
 and held them forcibly until others fol- 
 lowed his example and seized the heads of 
 the wheel-horses. But all the horses conti- 
 nuing still to tremble with that sort of 
 trepidating and trampling motion which 
 announces a speedy relapse into the pa- 
 roxysm of fury, — the man who held the 
 leaders drew a cutlass from beneath his 
 cloak ; and, tossing it to a sailor-like man 
 who stood near him, bade him instantly cut 
 the traces : not a moment was to be lost ; 
 for the hind wheels were already backing 
 obliquely against the rails ; the slight wood 
 work was heard crashing ; and a few inches 
 more of retrograde motion would send the 
 whole equipage over the precipice. The 
 sailor however had a sailor's agility, and cut 
 away as if he had been cutting at a boarding 
 netting. Ten seconds sufficed to disengage 
 the carriage from the horses ; and at tlic 
 
WALLADMOR. 213 
 
 same instant a body of men seizing the hind 
 wliecls rolled the carriage forward from the 
 dark precipitous edge over which it already 
 hung in tottering suspense. A burst of 
 joyous exultation rose from the crowd ; for 
 Miss Walladmor was universally beloved — as 
 much on her own account, as from the local 
 attachment to her name and family. Whilst 
 the danger lasted she had sate still and 
 composed in the carriage : when it was over 
 she first felt a little agitated ; and the loud 
 testimonies of affectionate congratulation 
 made her more so. She bent forward how- 
 ever to the window, and commanded her- 
 self sufficiently to thank them all in a low 
 but very audible and emphatic tone. The 
 sweetness of her low and melancholy voice 
 trembling \vith emotion, and her pensive 
 beauty which was at this moment power- 
 fully revealed by the torch-light, charmed 
 the rudest man in the crowd : all was hushed 
 while she spoke ; and the next moment an 
 answer rose from the whole assemblage of 
 
214 WALLADMOR. 
 
 people ill clamorous expressions of attach- 
 ment to the young lady of Walladmor. 
 
 Bertram had been a silent observer of all ; 
 he still kept his eye on the man in the 
 cloak ; and he observed, that as soon as the 
 attention of the crowd was withdrawn from 
 the carriage this man again approached it. 
 Miss Walladmor had also observed him ; and, 
 being well aware that it was chiefly to the man 
 in the cloak that she was indebted for her 
 safety, she was anxious for an opportunity 
 of thanking him separately. For this pur- 
 pose she leaned forward as he approached, 
 and was going to have spoke : but suddenly 
 the stranger unmuffled his head ; the light 
 of the lamp fell upon his features, and 
 disclosed the countenance of a young man — 
 apparently about twenty-four years old ; a 
 countenance which at this moment appeared 
 to Bertram eminently noble and dignified, 
 and strongly reminded him of the fine profile 
 which he had seen in the gallery of the inn. 
 It was a countenance that to iMiss Wallad- 
 
WALLADMOR. 215 
 
 mor was known too well for her peace : this 
 was evident from all that followed. She 
 uttered a sudden shriek on seeing him ; the 
 noise of the crowd overpowered it, but 
 Bertram was near and heard it ; then sank 
 back for a moment ; then again leaned for- 
 ward, and turned deadly pale : then seemed 
 to recover herself, and burst into tears — 
 large tears which glittered in the lamp- 
 light : and at last fixing her eyes upon the 
 stranger — and seeing that he stood checked 
 and agitated by the uncertain meaning of 
 her manner, — in a moment, and in a rapture 
 of tenderness that asked no counsel of fears 
 or selfish scruples, or of any thing on this 
 earth but her own woman's heart, she 
 stretched out her hand to him and through 
 her streaming tears smiled upon him with 
 innocent love. She had no voice to thank 
 him as her deliverer : nor did she at this 
 moment think of him as such ; for her 
 heart had gone back to times in which she 
 needed no ties of gratitude (or believed that 
 
216 WALLADMOR. 
 
 she needed none) to justify her attachment. 
 On the other hand the stranger likewise ut- 
 tered not a word. He, who w^oidd have 
 died a thousand times to have saved a hair 
 of her head from suffering injury, had not 
 thought of his recent service as of any thing 
 that could entitle him to a moment's favour ; 
 and, when he actually beheld the smile of 
 her angelic countenance and found her 
 hand within his own, he held it at first as 
 one who knew not that he held it : for a 
 little space his thoughts seemed to wander ; 
 he looked upwards as if in deep perplexity ; 
 and Bertram observed a slight convulsive 
 movement about his lips. But suddenly he 
 recovered himself; pressed the hand which 
 he held with a look of unutterable fervor to 
 his heart ; kissed it with an anguish of love 
 deep — endless — despairing ; and, as he re- 
 signed it, offered a letter which iMiss Wal- 
 ladmor immediately accepted without hesita- 
 tion ; and then, without hazarding another 
 look, he disappeared hastily in the darkness. 
 
WALLADMOll. ^17 
 
 All passed within little more than a 
 minute : from the position he occupied, 
 Bertram had reason to helieve that he only 
 had witnessed the extraordinary scene : and 
 lie could not but ejaculate to himself — 
 '* What a world of meaning was uttered 
 here, and yet no syllable spoken ! " 
 
 ]\Iiss Walladmor now drew up the glasses : 
 the injuries sustained by the carriage were 
 speedily repaired; the horses again har- 
 nessed : and, within ten minutes from a 
 scene so variously agitating to her fortitude 
 and her affections, she was happy to find 
 herself left to the solitude and darkness of 
 her long evening ride to Walladmor. 
 
AVALLAD.AIOU. 219 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Char. What ! — Away, away, for shame ! — You, profane rogues, 
 IMust not be mingled with these holy relicks : 
 Tliis is a sacrifice ; — our shower shall crown 
 His sepulchre with olive, myrrh, and bays, 
 The plants of peace, of sorrow, victory : 
 Your tears would spring but weeds. 
 
 1 Cred. Would they so ? 
 We'll keep them to stop bottles then. 
 
 Rom. No : keep them for your own low sins, you rogues, 
 Till you repent : you'll die else and be damn'd. 
 
 2 Cred. Damn'd!— ha! ha! ha? 
 Rom. Laugh ye ? 
 
 2 Cred. Yes, faith. Sir : we would be very glad 
 
 To please you either way. 
 
 1 Cred. You're ne'er content, 
 
 Crying nor laughing. 
 
 Massinger and Fields Fatal Dowry. — Act. II. Sc. 1. 
 
 The next morning was fine and promis- 
 ing, the frost still continuing ; and Ber- 
 tram, if he had otherwise been likely to 
 forget his engagement, would have been 
 reminded of it by the silence of the inn 
 and the early absence of all the strangers ; 
 most of whom, there was rejfson to suspect. 
 
220 WALLADMOll, 
 
 had gone off with the view of witnessing 
 or taking part in the funeral honors of 
 Captain le Harnois. This however was a 
 conjecture which Bertram owed rather to 
 his own sagacity than to any information 
 won from the landlord, who seemed to 
 make it a point of his duty to profess en- 
 tire ignorance of the motions of all whom 
 he harhoured in his house ; and, with re- 
 spect to the funeral in particular, for some 
 reason chose to treat it as a mysterious 
 affair not puhlicly to be talked of 
 
 Taking the direction of Aberkilvie, Ber- 
 tram pursued a slanting course to the sea — 
 but so as to command a view of the first 
 reach of the valley through which the fu- 
 neral was to pass ; his purpose being to 
 drop down into the procession, fi-om the hills 
 which he was now traversing, at any con- 
 venient spot which the circumstances of the 
 ground might point out. At length, on 
 looking down from the summit of a hill, 
 he descried the funeral train : the head of 
 
WALLADMOR. 221 
 
 the column had apparently been in motion 
 for some time, and was now winding 
 through the rocky defiles into the long 
 narrow strath which lay below him; but 
 such was the extent of the train that the 
 rear had but just cleared the sea-shore. 
 It was a solemn and impressive spectacle 
 to look down from such a height upon the 
 sable and inaudible procession stealing along 
 and meandering upon the narrow ribbon- 
 like paths that skirted the base of the 
 mountains. The mourners were naturally 
 a silent train even when viewed from a 
 nearer station : but from Bertram's aerial 
 position the very horses and carriages 
 seemed shod with felt. So far as he could 
 make out the objects from the elevation at 
 which he stood, the procession opened with 
 a large hearse— by the side of which walk- 
 ed four stout marines as mourners. Close 
 behind the hearse followed about a dozen 
 post-chaises; and, by the side of each, 
 ^valked a couple of sailors armed with cut- 
 
222 WALLADMOR. 
 
 lasses. Immediately in the rear of the 
 post-chaises followed those who claimed re- 
 lationship to the deceased ; amongst whom 
 Bertram fancied that he could distinguish 
 plumes of feathers — and occasionally, as 
 the inequalities of the ground threw the 
 files into a looser array, a motley assem- 
 blage of colors and a glittering of arms. 
 
 From this leisurely view however of the 
 procession, as in the character of an indif- 
 ferent spectator, Bertram now gradually 
 dropped down the hill in order to take his 
 station in it as an active participator in its 
 labors. The speed and direction of his course 
 proclaimed his purpose : and, although the 
 majority of the train walked with their 
 heads bent to the ground, there were many 
 who saw him ; and all with one accord 
 called aloud to him, before he took his 
 place in the train, to cut himself a knotty 
 cudgel. This symbol of fraternity Ber- 
 tram had wholly forgotten to provide ; and, 
 observing that in fact all tlie mourners car- 
 
WALLADMOR. 223 
 
 ried one, he hesitated not to cut a stout 
 hough out of the first thorn hush he hap- 
 pened to see. This however chanced to 
 be so large — knotty — and clubHke, that 
 Bertram coukl not forbear secretly compar- 
 ing his own appearance with that of the 
 Heraldic wild man of the woods as embla- 
 zoned in Armorial Bearings. Indeed this 
 whole ceremony of initiation struck him as 
 so whimsical, and so nearly resembling the 
 classical equipment for the funeral regions 
 dictated by the Sibyl to ^neas,* that he 
 took the liberty — on assuming his place in 
 the funeral train — to put a question to his 
 next neighbour on the use and meaning 
 of so singular a rite : " Was it an indige- 
 nous Welsh custom, or a custom adopted 
 from France on this particular occasion in 
 honour of Capt. le Harnois?" His neigh- 
 bour however happened to be somewhat 
 churlish and surly ; and contented himself 
 
 * Sed non ante datur telluris operta subire, 
 Auricomos quam quis decerpserit arbore foetus, ^w. vi. 140. 
 
224 WALLADMOH. 
 
 with replying — " The meaning of it is 
 this : there are a cl — d number of dogs in 
 this comitry : and there's no keeping them 
 in any order without cudgels : that's the 
 use of them." 
 
 For some time the procession advanced 
 with great order and decorum : and, so 
 long as the sea continued to be visible in 
 the rear, a profound quietness and silence 
 reigned throughout the multitude : but no 
 sooner had the windings of the hills and 
 the inequalities of the road shut out 
 the sea-shore from their view, than a freer 
 movement of feeling began to stir through 
 the train and to relax all the previous re- 
 straints. One coughed : another hemmed 
 and hawed ; some began to unmuffle their 
 voices from the whispering way in which 
 they had hitherto spoken : and others who 
 had acquaintances dispersed up and down 
 the procession conversed with them from a 
 distance in loud and familiar tones. Once 
 invaded, the wliolc solemnity of the pro- 
 
WALLADMOR. 225 
 
 cession was speedily dissolved : and a cor- 
 pulent man, stepping out of the line, threw 
 himself down upon a stone; unbuttoned 
 his coat and waistcoat ; and at the same 
 time sang out — 
 
 " Let who will endure this devil's quick 
 march : I'll not go a step fm*ther without a 
 dram. You there a-head, have you got 
 any thing to drink ? Hearse ahoy, — have 
 you no gin under hatches ? I*m d — d, if 
 I go a step further without grog: and 
 Capt. le Harnois may turn out, and tumble 
 to his grave head over heels for me, unless 
 you bring us a glass of something — I don't 
 care what. D — n this walking on foot ! 
 Come, bear a hand there — do you hear, you 
 lubbers a-head ! What the devil ! I say — 
 Hearse ahoy ! " 
 
 When once a mutineer steps forward, he 
 is pretty sm-e of another to second him : for 
 it is but the first step over the threshold 
 which alarms men. So it was here. The 
 standard of revolt, which the corpulent man 
 
 VOL. I. Q 
 
226 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 had set up, was soon flocked to by maii}^ 
 others as well corpulent as lean ; and a 
 general clamor was raised for spirits or 
 wine. This meeting with no attention, a 
 Dutch concert began of songs in every 
 possible style — hunting songs, sea songs, 
 jovial songs, love songs, comic songs, politi- 
 cal songs, together with the lowest obscenity 
 and ribaldry ; all which floated on the 
 breeze through the sinuous labyrinths of 
 the mountains in company with the Catholic 
 chaunts and anthems which attended the 
 body of Captain le Harnois. Never man 
 had merrier funeral. Singing being over, 
 then commenced every possible variety of 
 ingenious mimicry of every possible sound 
 known to the earth beneath or the waters 
 vmder the earth — howling, braying, bleat- 
 ing, lowing, neighing, whinnying, hooting, 
 barking, catterwauling ; until at length a 
 grave and well-dressed man stepped forward 
 to expostulate with the insurgents. In this 
 person Bertram immediately recognised the 
 
WALLADMOR. 227 
 
 manager of the theatre, and was thus at 
 once able to account for the motley-colored 
 cU-esses which he had seen and the plumes 
 of feathers. Him however the seceders 
 refused to hear : * what! listen to a harlequin 
 whom every man may see for sixpence ? ' 
 And the insurrection seemed likely to 
 prosper. The conductors of the funeral 
 however, who had advanced far a-head with 
 the van of the procession, now returned and 
 proposed an accommodation with the mal- 
 contents — by virtue of which they should be 
 allowed triple allowance of wine and spirits 
 at the place of their destination in lieu of 
 all demands on the road, which on certain 
 considerations it was dangerous to concede. 
 Even this proposition however would not 
 perhaps have been accepted by the musical 
 insurgents, but for a sudden alarm which 
 occurred at this moment : a sailor, who had 
 been reconnoitring from the neighbouring 
 heights, hastily ran down with the intelli- 
 gence that the excise officers were approach- 
 Q 2 
 
22S WALLADMOP.. 
 
 ing. Under this pressure of common 
 clanger the treaty was immediately con- 
 cluded : all resumed their places in the pro- 
 cession ; and the funeral anthems began to 
 peal through the winding valleys again. 
 Bertram indeed, who heard some persons in 
 his neighbourhood still uttering snatches of 
 ribaldry, anticipated some serious collision of 
 the sacred music with the profane just as the 
 officers were passing. But on the contrary 
 the vilest of the ribalds passed from their 
 ale-house songs into the choral music of the 
 funeral service with as much ease as a 
 musician modulates out of one key into 
 another. 
 
 In a few minutes a halt, which ran 
 through the whole long line of the procession, 
 announced by a kind of sympathy what was 
 taking place in it's head. Some stop and 
 cross-questioning it had to parry from a 
 small party of excise-officers ; but that was 
 soon over ; the excisemen rode slowly past 
 . them on their sorry jades, and reconnoitred 
 
WAT.I.ADMOK. ^29 
 
 them suspiciously ; but gave tlicm no further 
 interruption : and the whole line moved on 
 as freely as before. 
 
 The funeral train now advanced for some 
 time without interruption. The next 
 disturbance of the general harmony arose 
 in the shape of some political songs of 
 an inflammatory character: these were 
 sung in a loud voice which Bertram imme- 
 diately recognised as that of Mr. Dulberry. 
 INIuch it surprised him to find the reformer 
 in a situation of this character which appa- 
 rently promised so little fuel to the peculiar 
 passions which devoured him. However 
 ]\Ir, Dulberry aftervv^ards made it evident to 
 Bertram that it promised a good deal. For 
 in the first place he cherished a secret hope 
 that the whole meeting was of an unlawful 
 character : and in the second place he was 
 sure of being treated to the consolations of 
 smuggled brandy ; in which, besides it's 
 intrinsic excellence, every glass would derive 
 an additional zest from the consideration 
 
230 WALLADMOR. 
 
 that it had been the honored means of 
 cheating government out of three pence 
 half-penny. — With all his horror however 
 of regular government and subordination, 
 Mr. Didberry was made sensible that on 
 the present occasion he must submit to some 
 such oppression ; for, as he was wholly 
 unsupported in his annoyance, the managers 
 were determined to prevent it's spreading 
 by acting with summary vigor : accordingly 
 the reformer was roughly seized, and made 
 sensible by the determined air of those 
 about him that this conduct would not be 
 tolerated. Threats however seldom weighed 
 much with ]\Ir. Dulberry : to all such argu- 
 ments he was in the habit of retorting 
 Magna Charta, the Bill of Rights, Habeas 
 Coi-pus, &c. : and to the rough gestures of 
 those who had seized him, he objected 
 actions of assault and battery. Seeing 
 whom they had to deal with, one of the 
 coolest amongst the managers applied an 
 argument better suited to his temper: 
 
WALLADMOK. 231 
 
 " Arc you a spy, Mr. Dulberry, an informer, 
 a tool of Lord Londonderry ? " Mr. Dul- 
 berry was dumb with horror. " Because," 
 continued the other, " you are now abetting 
 the agents of government, whose active 
 opposition we anticipate (according to some 
 private information we have received) at 
 the next toll-bar. We are fast approaching 
 to it. And they will desire no better plea 
 for stopping our progress than the style and 
 tendency of your songs on so solemn an 
 occasion." — At this moment in fact a curve 
 in the road brought them in view of a turn- 
 pike gate, the appearance of which un- 
 pleasantly corroborated the private infor- 
 mation : for it was barricadoed with carts 
 and waggons ; and flanked, on both sides of 
 the road, by parties of horse and foot from 
 the customs and the excise. 
 
 At this spectacle Mr. Dulberry immedi- 
 ately desisted from his opposition ; the hne 
 of march was restored; and again the 
 solemn anthem rose — filling the narrow 
 
232 WALLADMOR. 
 
 valley through which the road lay. ]\Ican- 
 time the leaders of the company mustered 
 behind the chaises which had now been 
 placed two a-breast in order to masque their 
 motions : close consultations were held : and 
 from a sack, which had been taken out of 
 one of the post chaises, about a dozen cut- 
 lasses were distributed to a select party of 
 friends. These however were concealed by 
 the long mourning cloaks: and nothing 
 was allowed to appear that could tend to 
 throw any colorable doubt on the pacific 
 character of the procession. 
 
 The head of the train had now reached 
 the gate : an abrupt halt ensued : and half- 
 a-dozen well-dressed persons went forward 
 to demand the cause of this interruption. 
 High words were soon heard passing 
 between the parties ; and numbers began to 
 quit their stations in the procession and 
 press forward — some from secret orders to 
 that effect, and others from anxious curiosity. 
 Among the latter was Bertram, who came 
 
WALLADMOU. 233 
 
 up as one of the spokesmen on the side of 
 tlie funeral was exclaiming, 
 
 " 80 then you refuse to respect the order 
 of the lord lieutenant ? 
 
 " By no means," replied a revenue offi- 
 cer, " hy no means : we have the highest 
 respect for the lord lieutenant and his 
 orders." 
 
 " You mean to say then that the order 
 is a forged one ? " 
 
 " No : not forged, but granted perhaps 
 on forged representations : the lord lieute- 
 nant is no more satisfied with the truth of 
 the allegations which obtained that order — 
 than we are." 
 
 " That is false, Sir : the lord lieutenant 
 is perfectly satisfied, as some here can tes- 
 tify : and it is a mere accident and owing 
 no doubt to the earliness of our departure 
 from the shore, that his carriage is not in 
 the train." 
 
 " You deceive yourselves, gentlemen : it 
 
284 AVALLADMOll. 
 
 is no accident. Information was given 
 to Sir Morgan late last night which deter- 
 mined him to alter his intentions in that 
 point, or at least to suspend them. Satisfy 
 lis that the body of Captain le Harnois is in 
 that hearse, and we will immediately de- 
 spatch an express to Walladmor Castle; 
 from which a carriage and attendants will 
 be able to join you in two hours by the cross 
 road of Festiniog." 
 
 " But, good God ! is it possible that you 
 can wish to disturb the remains of a gallant 
 officer and a legitimate descendant of the 
 Montmorencies ? Why, Sir, the most 
 savage islanders of the South Seas, — canni- 
 bals even, anthropophagi, and ' men whose 
 heads do grow beneath their shoulders,' — 
 respect the rights of the dead. The son of 
 Capt. le Harnois is in the company : will 
 not his word of honor, the word of a Mont- 
 morency, be a sufficient guarantee for us ? 
 The bare name of a Montmorency, the first 
 
WALLADMOR. 235 
 
 French family that ever received baptism, 
 ought to be a passport through Christen- 
 dom." 
 
 " It is a name," replied the officer, " that 
 will pass no turnpike gate in Merioneth- 
 shire. And to cut the matter short, not a 
 carriage shall pass this gate till we have 
 searched it." 
 
 " But if you disregard the name of 
 JVIontmorency, will you show no honor to 
 the Lilies of France ? The deceased Cap- 
 tain mounted the flag of his Most Christian 
 ]\Iajesty. Are you not afraid of causing a 
 rupture between the courts of St. James 
 and St. Cloud?" 
 
 The officer smiled, and said he hoped it 
 would not come to that, 
 
 " Perhaps not : but what will prevent it ? 
 Why this, my friend : that you will your- 
 self be made the sacrifice. It is notorious 
 that the English treasury are just now shy 
 of war : something however must be thought 
 of to appease the wounded honor of France; 
 
236 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Lord Londonderry will send down a man- 
 trap : some dark niglit you will be kidnap- 
 ped : and your head will be sent in a cliarger 
 to the Thuilleries/' 
 
 A burst of laughter followed, in which 
 Bertram was surprized to perceive that 
 many of his own party joined as heartily as 
 the other. Some however, of a weather- 
 beaten sea-faring appearance, listened with 
 manifest impatience to this conference ; and 
 one of them, as spokesman for the rest, 
 cried out— 
 
 " ]\iy eyes ! what's the good of all this 
 jaw ? Get out of my way, master Har- 
 lequin, and go aft: noble Captain, shall 
 lis lay 'em aboard ? " So saying he turned 
 his eye upon a young man near the hearse 
 who had been pointed out to Bertram as 
 young le Harnois and chief mourner. His 
 hat was slouched over his eyes, and his side 
 face only presented to Bertram, — who in this 
 however fancied again that he saw enough 
 to reco^j;nize the stranger who had so much 
 
TVALLADMOK. 237 
 
 Impressed him in the gallery of the inn. 
 But he had little time for examination : in a 
 moment after the young man whispered to 
 a person who stood on his right and to an- 
 other on his left : these retired a little to 
 the rear ; whilst a strong party, that had 
 gradually collected in advance of the hearse, 
 rapidly formed and dressed in a line facing 
 the revenue officers. At that instant the 
 young man whistled ; and, in the twinkling 
 of an eye, upwards of forty cloaks were slip- 
 ped off — discovering a stout body of sailors 
 well armed with pistols, dirks, and cutlasses; 
 and some of them carrying carbines slung 
 at their backs. A general huzza followed : 
 the two persons who had gone to the rear, 
 each with seven or eight followers, ran seve- 
 rally to the right and left at right angles 
 from the road strait up the steep hills which 
 rose on each side ; then making a short cir- 
 cuit they descended hke a torrent in the rear 
 of the revenue officers ; swarmed mtli the 
 agility of cats over their waggons, and from 
 
238 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 tliese upon the turnpike gate — whence they 
 threw themselves with ease on the horses, 
 riding en croupe behind the officers ; who on 
 their part, being hemmed in by a party far 
 out-numbering themselves in front and by 
 the gate behind, had no means of counteract- 
 ing the manoeuvre. In this awkward situation 
 pinioned from behind and too ill mounted 
 to have any hope of charging through so 
 dense a crowd of armed men whose rear rested 
 upon a triple line of post chaises, the officers 
 saw that resistance w^ould be fruitless ; and 
 unwillingly they gave up their arms. Mean- 
 time a stronger party of officers, who were 
 on foot, had retired into a little garden 
 adjoining to the turnpike house, and were 
 now drawn up behind a low hedge. To 
 dislodge these, a select body of sailors was 
 ordered forward — which ' the chief mourner' 
 headed in person. As they Vv^ere advancing, 
 the officers discharged their pistols — of 
 which however not many were loaded with 
 ball ; so powerful a resistance not having 
 
WALLADMOPv. 239 
 
 been anticipated ; and the result was, that 
 nobody was wounded except the commander 
 of the party ; and he only by a flesh wound 
 in his left arm. According to the directions 
 previously given them, before the officers 
 had time to reload, the whole party of sai- 
 lors rushed in upon them ; and, without 
 unshipping their fire-arms or cutlasses, 
 attacked them with cudgels. Ten or eleven 
 out of five-and- twenty were instantly 
 stretched on the ground and disanned ; of 
 the remainder the major part scaled the 
 turnpike gate, and succeeded in throwing 
 themselves into a waggon which was drawn 
 up with its broad-side across the road. 
 Beyond this were drawn up two other lines 
 of carts; into the last of which, for the 
 sake of keeping open their retreat, they step- 
 ped. From these however the horses had 
 not been taken out : they were simply 
 backed up at right angles to the two inner 
 lines, which stood across the road, the 
 horses' heads looking down the road. Here 
 
240 WALLADMOE. 
 
 tbcy posted themselves ; lialf their faces in 
 one direction, half m the other. " Now 
 then for my boarders ! " said the young 
 leader jocosely, " where arc my boarders ? " 
 And instantly an active party, whom he 
 ordered not to advance beyond the second 
 range of carts, swarmed over the gate : two 
 or three others meantime slipped round by 
 the hill ; and, whilst the ' boarders ' en- 
 gaged the whole attention of the enemy, 
 applied their cudgels so suddenly and so 
 vigorously to the horses that they started 
 off at full gallop ; and, to prevent any early 
 relaxation of their speed, the sailors ran 
 along with them for fifty or sixty yards — 
 belaboring them with exemplary vigor. The 
 consequence of this sudden movement was — 
 that ^ve lost their balance and fell over- 
 board : all the r(?st continued to scud along 
 the road in the two heavy vessels on board 
 which they had embarked themselves — 
 repeatedly crossing and nearly running foul 
 of each other — until at length, just as they 
 
WALl.AnMOJl. 241 
 
 approached a turn of the road which would 
 have carried tliem out of sight of their ene- 
 mies, they came into sudden and violent 
 collision ; both carts capsized ; and all on 
 board were shot out to every point of 
 the compass. A roar of laughter 
 ascended from the sailors: who now pro- 
 ceeded hastily to collect their trophies, and 
 to clear the road of obstructions. The cap- 
 tured arms were tossed into a light cart, 
 which was sent on before. Three of the 
 horses, selected with due regard to their dul- 
 ness and moral incapacity for trotting, were 
 harnessed to the waggon ; which was given 
 up to those of the revenue officers who had 
 sustained any hurt in the engagement. The 
 rest were mustered and directed to go about 
 their business by the same road which the 
 funeral train had just traversed. By these 
 arrangements all danger of immediate pur- 
 suit was obviated: the turnpike being 
 eighteen miles in that direction from the 
 nearest town. The chapel of Utragan, four 
 
 VOL. 1. II 
 
242 WALLADMOll. 
 
 miles a-head, was fixed as the place at which 
 all the horses and arms would be left for 
 their owners on the ensuing night: and 
 then the enemy were finally turned adrift 
 with three cheers and a glass of French 
 brandy to those who chose to accept it. 
 
 " And now, my lads," said the leader, 
 after ordering a double allowance of brandy 
 to be served out to every man, " now we 
 must make the most of our time. So leave 
 the carts here : clap the horses on as leaders 
 to our own ; and push forward like Hell 
 to Utragan, where we must all rendezvous, 
 and somewhere in that neighbourhood will 
 consign our cargo to safe custody." So say- 
 hig he mounted one of the horses, and 
 liastily rode off. 
 
 Then followed a scene which put the 
 finishing hand to the astonishment of Ber- 
 tram (who had stood aloof during the late 
 engagement) and formed an appropriate 
 close to the funeral of Captain le Haraois. 
 The cart horses were distributed, as far as 
 
WALLADMOR. 243 
 
 they would go, amongst the carriages : the 
 hearse which originally had four, was now 
 therefore drawn by six. A jolly boatswain, 
 who had armed his heels with a pair of 
 immense old French spurs, rode the leaders 
 — a couple of huge broad-backed plough 
 horses: his mourning cloak he used by 
 way of isaddle ; and in lieu of whip he pro- 
 duced the " cat " of the Fleui's-de-lys. 
 The two hinder pairs were driven with long 
 reins by a sailor whose off leg was a wood- 
 en one : this he tiu-ned to excellent account 
 by thumping the foot-board incessantly to 
 the great alarm of the horses. Assessor to 
 him upon the box, sate an old fisherman 
 who made himself useful to the concern by 
 leaning forward and flagellating the wheel 
 horses with one of the captured cart whips. 
 Upon the roof were mounted sixteen or 
 eighteen sailors, two of whom in one comer 
 were performing a minuet with a world of 
 ceremonious bows and curtseys to each 
 other ; and most of the others were linking 
 R 2 
 
244- A^^ALLADMOR. 
 
 hands and dancing the steps of a hornpipe 
 about a man in the centre who had tied 
 his mourning cloak to his cudgel by way of 
 flag, and was liolding it aloft to catch the 
 breezes which streamed through the narrow 
 defiles of the hills. None but sailors, well 
 practised in treading the deck of a rolling 
 ship, could possibly have maintained their 
 footing: for the boatswain, the wooden leg, 
 and the fisherman, kept up their horses inex- 
 orably to their duty of an immutable gallop; 
 the hearse and its plumes flew through the 
 solitary valley; the post-chaises, carrying 
 a similar crew on their upper decks, flew 
 after the hearse; and in the rear of the 
 whole, with all the sail they could crov^d 
 (but hand passibus cequis) flew a long- 
 straggling tail of pedestrians with cloaks 
 streaming, outstretched arms, and weaving 
 hats, hallooing and upbraiding the sailors 
 with treachery for not taking them on board. 
 Amongst them the most conspicuous was 
 Mr. Dulbcrry: with his cloak tucked about 
 
WALLADMOR. 245 
 
 his middle, " succinct for speed," he spun 
 along ^vitli fury in his eyes — howling out, 
 at every moment, " Stop, ye cursed Aristo- 
 crats ! All men are equal. Stop for your 
 pedestrian brothers ; ye vile Aristocratic 
 hounds ! " — but all in vain : the sailors had 
 shouting enough of their own to mind. 
 From the hearse, which acted as commodore 
 to the whole squadron, a running fire of 
 signals and nautical instructions was kept 
 up fore and aft : " Now bowson ! now 
 Fisherman ! what are you after ? — keep 'em 
 up, keep 'em up. Look at that great 
 lumbering devil."—" What that ? "— " No, 
 that on the starboard: by G- , he runs 
 like a cow. Who's got a stone? Here, 
 hand it us; and I'll send him a remem- 
 brance. Messmates astern, — keep a sharp 
 look out; there's breakers a-head. Now, 
 bowson, come — what are you up to ? Give 
 that off leader of yours a kick for me. Look 
 at him : He never was out of a plough 
 field ; and he thinks he's ploughing for the 
 
246 WALLADMOR. 
 
 devil. Have you ever a bullet, bowson ? 
 Drop it into his ear, and he'll gallop like a 
 pig in a storm. — Fisherman, you tlu*ow 
 your lash as if you were trout-fishing : 
 here, give us your whip, and I'll start him 
 — an old black devil ! Now, bowson, mind 
 how you double Cape Horn ! " 
 
 In the next moment Cape Horn 
 was doubled: one after one the flying 
 squadron of hearse and chaises, which still 
 continued to scud along like clouds before 
 the wind, whirled round a point of rock 
 and vanished like a hurricane : in a few 
 minutes the flying pedestrians had followed 
 them : the hubbub of shouts, halloos, curses, 
 and travelling echoes, were hushed abruptly 
 as in the silence of the grave: the wild 
 spectacle of black draperies and fierce faces 
 had fled like an exhalation or a delirium : 
 all were locked up from the eye and the 
 ear by the lofty barriers of another valley, 
 and Bertram, who had lingered behind — 
 and now found liimself left alone in a 
 
WALLADMOR. 247 
 
 solitary valley with a silence as profound 
 under the broad light of tlu*ee o'clock in the 
 afternoon as elsewhere at midnight, — felt 
 so much perplexed by this abrupt transition 
 and the tumultuous succession of incidents, 
 that for some time he was almost disposed 
 to doubt whether Captain le Harnois, and 
 the funeral of Captain le Harnois, and 
 every thing that related to Captain le Har- 
 nois were not some aerial pageant bred out 
 of those melancholy vapors which are often 
 attributed to the solemn impressions of 
 mountain solitudes. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 C. Baldwiu, Printer, 
 New Bridge-street, London. 
 
WALLADMOR : 
 
 " FREELY TRANSLATED INTO GERMAN 
 FROM THE ENGLISH OF SIR WALTER SCOTT. 
 
 FREELY TRANSLATED 
 
 FROM THE GERMAN INTO ENGLISH. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 My root is earthed; and I, a desolate branch. 
 Left scattered in the highway of the world. 
 Trod under foot, that might have been a colunui 
 Mainly supporting our demolished house Maaiiingci 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
 LONDON : 
 PRINTED FOR TAYLOR AND HESSE Y, 
 
 93 rLEET STREET, AND 13 WATERLOO PLACE, PALL MALL. 
 
 1825. 
 
WALLADMOR. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Hast thou a medicine to restore my wits 
 When I have lost them ? — If not, leave to talk. 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher ; Philaster, 
 
 In this perplexity, whilst sitting down 
 to clear up his thoughts and to consider of 
 his futiure motions, Bertram suddenly re- 
 memhered that immediately before the 
 attack on the revenue officers, a note had 
 been put into his hand — which he had 
 at that time neglected to read under the 
 overpowering interest of the scene which 
 followed. This note he now drew from his 
 pocket : it was vn-itten in pencil, and con- 
 tained the following words : 
 
 VOL. II. B 
 
2 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " You wish to see the ruins of Ap 
 Gauvon. In confidence therefore let me 
 tell you that the funeral train will direct 
 its course upon a different point. Take 
 any convenient opportunity for leaving this 
 rabble, and pursue your route to the Abbey 
 through the valley which branches off on 
 the left. You will easily reach it by night- 
 fall ; and you will there receive a welcome 
 from An Old Friend. 
 
 The day was uncommonly clear and 
 bright ; the frosty air looked sharp, keen, 
 and " in a manner vitreous ; "=* and every 
 thing wore a cheerful and promising aspect, 
 except that towards the horizon the sky 
 took that emerald tint which sometimes on 
 such days foreruns the approach of snow. 
 However, as it was now too late to return 
 to Machynleth whilst the day-light lasted — 
 
 * A picturesiiue expression borrowed from a celebrated English 
 author in one of his letters from Paris, published in the Morning 
 Chronicle. 
 
WALLADMOR. 3 
 
 and as the ruins of Ap Gauvon were both 
 in themselves and in their accompaniments 
 of scenery, according to the description 
 which had been given of them, an object of 
 powerful attraction to Bertram, — he re- 
 solved to go forward in the track pointed 
 out. After advancing a couple of miles, 
 he bent his steps through the valley which 
 opened on his left; and soon reached a 
 humble ale-house into which he turned for 
 the sake of obtaining at the same time 
 refreshments and further directions for his 
 route. 
 
 " How far do you call it, landlord, to the 
 Abbey of Griffith ap Gauvon." 
 
 " To Ap Gauvon ? Why let me see-^ 
 it'll be a matter of eight miles ; or bettet 
 than seVen any way. But you'll never be 
 thinking of going so far to-night." 
 
 '' Why, — is there any danger, then ? " 
 
 " Nay, I don't know for that : we've 
 now and then odd sort of folks come up 
 this way from the sea-side : but I reckon 
 B 2 
 
4f WALLADMOR. 
 
 they wouldn't meddle of you : for you'll 
 never sure be going into the Abbey ? " 
 
 '' But, suppose I did, is there nobody at 
 the Abbey or near it that could give me a 
 night's lodging ? " The landlord stared 
 with a keen expression of wonder, — and 
 answered, vdth some reserve, " Why who 
 should there be but the owls, and in sum- 
 mer time may be a few bats ? " 
 
 " Well, perhaps I shall find a lodging 
 somewhere in the neighbourhood: mean- 
 time I would thank you to put me into the 
 nearest road." 
 
 " Why, that's sooner said than done: 
 its a d — d awkward cross-country road, and 
 there's few in this country can hit it. But 
 the best way for you will be to keep right 
 over the shoulder of yonder hill, and then 
 bear a^vay under the hills to your right, till 
 you come to the old gallows of Pont-ar- 
 Diawl : and there you must look about 
 for somebody able to put you in the way." 
 
 " An old gallows ! Surely you can't 
 
WALLADMOR. 5 
 
 have much need of a standing gallows in a 
 country so thinly peopled as this ? " 
 
 " Why no, master ; we don't make 
 much use of it : not hut there has been 
 some fine lads in my time that have taken 
 their last look of day-light on that gallows ; 
 and here and there you'll meet with an old 
 body amongst these hills that has the 
 heart-ache when she looks that way. But 
 the gallows is partly built of stone : they 
 say King Edward I. built it, to hang the 
 Welsh harpers on ; by the dozen at once, 
 I have heard say. Well, all's one to you 
 and me : by the score if it pleased him. 
 
 " But now-a-days I suppose it will not 
 have many customers from the harpers : 
 what little business it has vdll lie chiefly 
 among those ' odd sort of folks from the 
 sea-side,' — eh, landlord ? " 
 
 " Why master, as to that, as long as 
 folks do me no harm, it's never my 
 way to say any thing ill of them. Now 
 and then, may be, I hear a noise of winter 
 
6 WALLADMOll. 
 
 nights in my barn : and my wife and 
 daughters would have me to lock the barn- 
 door before it's dark. But what ? as I 
 often says to them ; it's better to have folks 
 making free with one's straw, and now and 
 then an armful of hay for a horse or so, 
 than to have one's house burnt over one's 
 head one of these long winter nights. And, 
 to give the devil his due, I don't think 
 they're much in my debt : for often enough 
 I find a bottle or two of prime old wine 
 left behind them." 
 
 " So then, on the whole, these sea-side 
 gentry are not uncivil : and, if it's they that 
 tenant Ap Gauvon, perhaps they'll show a 
 little hospitality to a wanderer like my- 
 self?" 
 
 " Aye, but that's more than I'll answer 
 for. I know little about Ap Gauvon : it's 
 a place I never was at — nor ever will be, 
 please God. Why should any man go and 
 thrust his hand into a hornet's nest, where 
 there's nothing to be got ? '* 
 
WALLADMOR. 7 
 
 "• But landlord, if these smugglers come 
 and visit you, I think they couldn't be 
 angry with you for returning the visit/' 
 
 " I tell you, 1 know of no smugglers at 
 Ap Gauvon : some folks say there are 
 ghosts at Ap Gauvon ; and Merlin has been 
 seen of moonlight nights walking up and 
 down the long galleries : and sometimes of 
 dark nights the whole Abbey in a manner 
 has been lit up ; and shouting and laugh- 
 ing enough to waken all the church-yards 
 round Snowdon. But I mustn't stand 
 gossiping here, master: I've my cows to 
 fetch up, and fifty things to do before its 
 dark." 
 
 So saying he turned on his heel, whilst 
 Bertram pursued his way to the stone 
 gallows. This he reached in about an 
 hour and a half; by which time the light 
 was beginning to decay. Looking round 
 for some person of whom he could inquire 
 the road, he saw or fancied that he saw — a 
 human figure near the gallows ; and, going 
 
8 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 a little nearer he clearly distinguished a 
 woman sitting at its foot. He paused a 
 little while to watch her. Sometimes she 
 muttered to herself, and seemed as if lost 
 in thought : sometimes she roused herself 
 up suddenly, and sang in a wild and 
 boisterous tone of gaiety: but it easily 
 appeared that there was no joy in her 
 gaiety ; for the tone of exultation soon 
 passed into something like a ferocious ex- 
 pression of vengeance. Then, after a time, 
 she would suddenly pause and laugh : but 
 in the next moment would seem to recover 
 the main recollection that haunted her; 
 and falling back as into the key-note of her 
 distress, would suddenly burst into tears. 
 Bertram saw enough to convince him that 
 the poor creature's wits were unsettled ; 
 and from the words of one of the fragments 
 which she sang, a suspicion flashed upon 
 his mind that it could be no other than his 
 hostess in the wild cottage ; though how, 
 or on what errand, come over to this 
 
WALLADMOR. 9 
 
 neighbourhood — he was at a loss to guess. 
 To satisfy himself on all these points if 
 possible, he moved nearer and accosted her : 
 
 " A cold evening, good mother, for one 
 so old as you to be sitting out in the open 
 air." 
 
 " Yes, Sir," she answered, without ex- 
 pressing any surprise at his sudden inter- 
 ruption ; " yes, Sir, its a cold evening : but 
 I am waiting for a young lad that was to 
 meet me here." 
 
 Bertram now saw that his conjecture was 
 right: it was indeed his aged and mys- 
 terious hostess : but, before he could speak, 
 she seemed to have forgotten that he was 
 present— and sang in an under tone : 
 
 They hung him high aboon the rest, 
 
 He was sae trim a boy ; 
 Thair dyed the youth whom I lov'd best 
 
 — My winsome Gilderoy. 
 
 " A young man you were expecting to 
 meet you ? " said Bertram. 
 
 "Yes, Sir, a young man:" and then, 
 
10 WALT.ADMOR. 
 
 holding up her apron to her face as if 
 ashamed, she added — *' he was a sweetheart 
 of mine. Sir." But in a moment, as if 
 recollecting herself, she cried out — " No, 
 no, no : I'D tell you the whole truth : he 
 was my son, my love, my darling : and they 
 took him. Sir, they hanged him here. 
 And, if you'll believe my word, Sir — they 
 would n't let his old mother kiss his bonny 
 lips before he died. Well, well ! Let's have 
 nothing but peace and quietness. All's to 
 be right at last. There's more of us, I 
 believe, that won't die in our beds. But 
 don't say I told you." 
 
 " My good old hostess, can you show me 
 the road to Griffith ap Gauvon?" 
 
 " Ap Gauvon, is it ? Aye, aye : there's 
 one of them : Ae '11 never die in his bed, 
 rest you sure of that. Never you trouble 
 your head about him : I've settled all that : 
 and Edward Nicholas will be hanged at this 
 gallows, if my name's Gillie Godber." 
 
 " But, IMrs. Godber, don't you remember 
 
WALLADMOR. 11 
 
 me ? I was two iiights at your cottage ; 
 and Vm now going to the Abbey of Ap 
 Gauvon where I hope to meet one that I 
 may perhaps be of some service to." 
 
 " Don't think it : there's nobody can ever 
 be of service to Edward Nicholas. He*s to 
 be hanged, I tell you, and nobody must 
 save him. I have heard it sworn to. You'll 
 say that I am but a weak old woman. But 
 you would not think now what a voice I 
 have : for all it trembles so, my voice can 
 be heard when it curses from Anglesea to 
 Walladmor. Not all the waves of the sea 
 can cry it down." 
 
 " But why must Edward Nicholas be 
 hanged ?" 
 
 " Oh, my sly Sir, you would know my 
 secret — would you ? You're a lawyer, I 
 believe. But stay — I'll tell you why he 
 must be hanged:" and here she raised her 
 withered arm to the stars which were just 
 then becoming visible in the dusk. Point- 
 
12 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 ing with her forefinger to a constellation 
 brighter than the rest, she said 
 
 " There was a vow made when he was 
 born ; and it's written amongst the stars. 
 And there's not a letter in that book that 
 can ever be blotted out. I can read what's 
 written there. Do you think that nobody's 
 barns must be hanged but mine ?" 
 
 " But who then was it, my good Mrs. 
 Godber, that hanged your son ?" 
 
 " Who should it be but the old master 
 of Walladmor? He knows by this time 
 what it is to have the heart-ache. Oli 
 kite ! he tore my lamb from me. But, 
 hark in your ear — Sir Lawyer ! I visited his 
 nest, old ravening kite ! High as it was in 
 the air, I crept up to his nest : I did — I 
 did ! " And here she clapped her hands, and 
 expressed a frantic exultation : but, in a 
 moment after, she groaned and sate down ; 
 and, covering her face with her hands, she 
 burst into tears ; and soon appeared to 
 
WALLADMOll. 13 
 
 have sunk into thought, and to be uncon- 
 scious of Bertram's presence. 
 
 Once more he attempted to rouse her 
 attention by asking the road to Ap Gau- 
 von ; but the sound of his voice only v^oke 
 her into expressing her thoughts aloud : 
 
 " Nay, nay, — my old gentleman, that's a 
 saying that'll never come true : 
 
 When black men storm the outer door, , 
 Grief shall be over at Walladmor ! 
 
 It's an old saying I'll grant, but it's a 
 false one : grief will never be over at 
 Walladmor : that's past all black men's 
 healing !" 
 
 " But, Mrs. Godber, will you not come 
 with me to Griffith ap Gauvon ;" 
 
 She started up at the words Ap Gauvon ; 
 without speaking a word, she drew her 
 cloak about her ; and, as if possessed by 
 some sudden remembrance, she strode oiF 
 at so rapid a pace over the moor that Ber- 
 tram had some difficulty in keeping up 
 with her. This however he determined to 
 
14 WALLADMOR. 
 
 do : for he remarked that her course lay 
 towards a towering range of heights which 
 seemed to overlook the valley in which they 
 were walking, and which he had reason to 
 believe was a principal range of Snowdon : 
 he had been nearing it through the whole 
 afternoon ; and he knew that Ap Gauvon 
 lay somewhere at the foot of that moun- 
 tain. For some time his aged companion 
 kept up her speed : but, on reaching a part 
 of the moor which was intersected with turf 
 pits, she was compelled to suit her pace to 
 the intricacy of the ground ; though even 
 here she selected her path from the laby- 
 rinth before her with a promptitude and 
 decision which showed that she was well 
 acquainted with the ground she was tra- 
 versing. On emerging again into smoother 
 roads, she resumed at intervals her rapid 
 motions : and again, on some sudden caprice 
 as it seemed, would slink into a stealthy 
 pace — and walk on tiptoe, as if in the act 
 of listening or surprising some one before 
 
WALLADMOR. 15 
 
 her. Once only she spoke, upon Bertram's 
 asking if the abbey were a safe place for a 
 stranger : " Oh aye/' she replied, " Edward 
 Nicholas is a lamb when he's not provoked : 
 but his hand is red with blood for all that." 
 No question after this roused her atten- 
 tion. Now and then she sang ; sometimes 
 she crooned a word or two to herself ; and 
 more often she sank into thoughtful silence : 
 until at length, after advancing in this way 
 for about a mile and a half, — suddenly Ber- 
 tram missed her ; and looking round he saw 
 the outline of a figure stealing away in the 
 dusk and muttering some indistinct sounds 
 of complaint. He felt considerable per- 
 plexity at being thus suddenly abandoned 
 by his guide : but from this he was relieved 
 by now distinguishing a group of towers 
 and turrets close to him — which at first 
 had escaped his eye from the dark back- 
 ground of mountainous barrier with which 
 they seemed to blend : and going a few 
 steps nearer^ he perceived a light issuing 
 
16 WALLADMOR. 
 
 from the window of a vault. To this win- 
 dow, for the purpose of reconnoitring the 
 inmates of so lonely an abode, he now pushed 
 his way with some difficidty through heaps 
 of ruins and of tangled thorns. The upper 
 edge of the window-frame however being 
 on a level with the ground, he could per- 
 ceive little more than a small part of a 
 stone floor which lay at a great depth below 
 him ; and on this, by the strong light of a 
 blazing fire, he saw the moving shadows of 
 human figures as they passed and repassed : 
 and at intervals he heard the rolling of 
 casks and barrels. Determined to examine 
 a little further, he stretched himself along 
 the steep declivity of earth which sloped 
 down to the lower edge of the window. In 
 this posture he gained a complete view of 
 the vaidt, which to his astonishment he 
 now discovered to be a subterraneous church 
 of vast dimensions, such as are sometimes 
 found in the old monasteries below the 
 ordinary chapel of the order. Seated at a 
 
WALLADMOll. 17 
 
 table near the fire was a young man whose 
 face, as it was at this moment lit up by a 
 blazing fire, proclaimed him at once for the 
 stranger whose services to Miss Walladmor 
 and mysterious interview with her he had 
 witnessed with so much interest. Round 
 about him. stood groups of armed men ; 
 but of these he took little notice. Bertram 
 remarked that all of them treated him 
 with an air of respect, and addressed him 
 by the title of Captain : to which on his 
 part he replied with an air of good natured 
 familiarity that seemed to disown the sta- 
 tion of authority which they were disposed 
 to confer upon him. Anxious to hear and 
 see a little more before he ventured into 
 such a company, he endeavoured to shift 
 his position for one more convenient to his 
 pm-pose ; but in this attempt he nearly pre- 
 cipitated himself through the window. He 
 recovered his footing however by suddenly 
 catching at a mountain ash ; but, in so 
 doing, he dislodged a quantity of earth and 
 
 VOL. II. c 
 
18 WALLADMOH. 
 
 stones which fell rattling down amongst the 
 party below. 
 
 " Rats : rats !" instantaneously exclaimed 
 the whole body : " shall we fire, Captain?" 
 " Stop a moment," said Nicholas; and 
 mounting up a ladder, which stood near 
 the window, he held up a lighted bough of 
 Scotch fir to the place of Bertram's conceal- 
 ment. 
 
 " God bless my soul," exclaimed he, 
 ** its my young friend in search of the pic- 
 turesque : I protest I never looked for his 
 coming through the window. Here, bear a 
 hand, and help him in." 
 
 The ladder was now applied and steadied ; 
 with some little difficulty in extricating 
 himself from the rubbish and thorns which 
 beset him, Bertram descended : and was 
 not sorry to find himself, though amongst 
 such society, suddenly translated from the 
 severe cold of the air and a situation of 
 considerable peril to the luxury of rest and 
 a w^arm fire. 
 
WALLADMOR. 19 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 O what an easie thing is to descry 
 
 The gentle blood, however it be wrapt 
 
 In sade misfortunes foule deformity 
 
 And wretched sorrowes which have often hapt ! 
 
 For, — howsoever it may grow mis-shapt 
 
 Like this wyld man being undisciplyned 
 
 That to all virtue it may seeme unapt, — 
 
 Yet it will show some sparkes of gentle mynd 
 
 And at the last breake forth in his owne proper kynd. 
 
 Faerie Queene — B. vi. C, 5. 
 
 All the men were now dismissed by 
 their leader except one — who was directed 
 to place wine and refreshments on the 
 table : this was done. ** And now, Valen- 
 tine/' said the leader, " you may return 
 home : for I think you have a scolding 
 wife ; and by the way, if she wishes to have 
 a certificate of your good behaviour and 
 fidelity to her during your absence from 
 home, get me a pencil and I will write one." 
 
 " Ah ! Captain Nicholas," said the man, 
 c 2 
 
20 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " you're still the same man ; always ready 
 for a joke, let danger be as near as it will." 
 
 " Danger ! w'hat danger ?" 
 
 ** Why, to say the truth, I don't above 
 half like the old woman from Anglesea." 
 
 "What, GilheGodber?" 
 
 " Yes : she talks strangely at times ; 
 and, as sure as your name's mentioned, she 
 puts on a d — d Judas face; and talks — 
 God ! I hardly know what she talks ; but 
 it's my belief she means you no good." 
 
 " Hm ! — Well, so I have sometimes 
 thought myself. Yet I know not. At 
 times she's as kind as if she were my own 
 mother. And at all events I can't do vnth- 
 out her, so long as I have business at Wal- 
 ladmor Castle. Her son, you know, lives 
 there : and, but for her, I should often be 
 at a loss for means of communicating with 
 him." 
 
 " And has Gillie been at Walladmor to- 
 day?" 
 
 " Yes : pretty early this morning." 
 
WALT.ADMOR 21 
 
 " Then take my word for it — its she that 
 has hlabbed to Sir ]\Iorgan about the fu- 
 neral. And I'd be glad to think that were 
 the worst : for I heard it whispered once or 
 twice to-day that Sir Morgan had got notice 
 of your return. Black Will saw an express 
 of Sir Morgan's riding off to Carnarvon : 
 and, by one that left Machynleth at noon I 
 heard that Alderman Gravesend was stirring 
 with all his bull-dogs." 
 
 " Well, — I think they'll hardly catch me 
 this night. And, as the moon will soon be 
 rising, I w^ould advise you to make the best 
 of your way to Aberkilvie. Pleasant moon- 
 light to you ; and give my compliments to 
 your wife." 
 
 " Ah ! Captain, — I wish there were no 
 moonlight to-night : for my heart misgives 
 me, unless you take better care, some cross 
 luck will fall out. However, I'll not go to 
 Aberkilvie : I'll stay in the neighbourhood : 
 and, if I hear a shot, Til come down with 
 one or two more." 
 
32 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 The man retiied : and Nicholas for a few 
 minutes appeared to be sunk in reverie: 
 but soon recovering himself he addressed 
 Bertram with an air of gaiety : 
 
 " Well, my young friend, and how do 
 you like the world in Wales ? You have 
 taken my advice I find, and have come to 
 see Ap Gauvon " 
 
 " It was you then that were my guide to 
 Machynleth ? I was beginning to suspect as 
 much. Who it was that sent me the note 
 this morning, I need not ask : for my eyes 
 assiu:e me that you were the person who 
 presided on that occasion, both as com- 
 mander and as chief mourner." 
 
 " And I hope you disapproved my be- 
 haviour in neither part." 
 
 " To do you justice, you behaved incom- 
 parably well in both. In the latter part, 
 however, — well as you acquitted yourself, — 
 you must excuse me if I doubt your since- 
 rity." 
 
 "You suqnisc me," said Nicholas smiling : 
 
WALLA DMOR. 28 
 
 " what doubt the sincerity of my grief for 
 the death of Captain le Harnois?" 
 
 " My doubts go even a Httle further. I 
 doubt whether the body of Captain le Har- 
 nois at all accompanied the procession. 
 But what, in the name of God then, could 
 bring so large a train of mourners together ? 
 — Will you say upon your word that you 
 have deposited the body in any burying- 
 place?" 
 
 Nicholas laughed immoderately. " Your 
 discernment is w^onderful. As to the body, 
 I can assure you that it has not only been 
 deposited in a burying-place at Utragan, — 
 but immediately afterwards dispersed as 
 holy reliques all over the country : and no 
 saint's reliques in Christendom will meet 
 with more honour and attention. As to 
 what brought the crowd together, — if you 
 come to that, my young friend, what 
 brought you thither? I have some plans 
 which make it prudent for me to renew an 
 old connexion with a body of stout friends 
 
24 WALI.ADMOR. 
 
 at sea aud on shore. Most of the others, I 
 suppose, came for liquor. And you, if I 
 do not affront you by that suggestion, were 
 naturally desirous of seeing how the land 
 lay before you commenced operations. For 
 the oldest fox is at fault in a strange coun- 
 try." 
 
 " You still persist, I see, in looking 
 upon me as an adventurer : is it your opi- 
 nion that every body else would pass the 
 same harsh judgment on me ?" 
 
 " Ay, if not a harsher : but do you 
 know, Mr. Bertram, that at first sight, I 
 knew your profession by your face, and 
 what your destiny is in this life." 
 
 *' And which of my unhappy features is 
 it that bears this unpleasant witness against 
 me?" 
 
 " Unhappy you may truly call them," 
 said the other, smiling bitterly — " unhappy 
 indeed ; for they are the same as my o\\^i. 
 I rest a little upon omens and prefigura- 
 tions ; and am superstitious ; as those must 
 
WALLADMOR. 25 
 
 ever be who have lived upon the sea, and 
 have risked their all upon the faith of its 
 unsteady waves. It ^^ill mortify you (my 
 young friend) to confess, (hut it is true) 
 that much as storm, sun, passion, and hard- 
 ships, may have tanned and disfeatui'ed my 
 face, nevertheless it is still like thy gentle 
 woman's face, with its fair complexion and 
 its overshadowing locks ; and when I look 
 back upon that inanimate portrait which 
 once an idle artist painted of me, in my 
 1 6th year, I remember that it was one and 
 the same with thine. Kindred featiures 
 should imply kindred dispositions and 
 minds. The first time that I observed you 
 closely, on that evening when you came on 
 shore from Jackson's brig, sunk in reverie 
 and thinking no doubt, if indeed you 
 thought of me at all, that I was asleep ; 
 then did 1 behold in your eye my own ; 
 read in your forehead all the storms that 
 too surely have tossed and rocked the little 
 boat of your uneasy life ; saw your plans. 
 
26 WALLADMOR. 
 
 SO wide auti spacious — your little peace — 
 your doubts about the end which you were 
 pursuing — your bold resolves — bold, and 
 with not much hope." 
 
 '' Oh stranger, but thou knowest the 
 art, far above thy education, of reading the 
 souls of others." 
 
 A smile passed over his countenance 
 whilst he replied : " Education ! oh yes, I 
 too have had some education : oh ! doubt- 
 less education is a fine thing, not to run in 
 amongst gentlemen of refinement like a 
 wild beast, and shock the good pious lambs 
 with coarse manners or ferocious expres- 
 sions. Oh yes, education is of astonish- 
 ing value : a man of the wildest pursuits, 
 and the nature of a ruffian, may shroud 
 himself in this, as a wolf in sheep's cloth- 
 ing — and be ^\el\ received by all those ac- 
 complished creatures whom fortune brought 
 into this world, not in smoky huts, but in 
 rich men s rooms decked with tapestry. I 
 too have stolen a little morsel of education 
 
WALLADMOR. 27 
 
 amongst a troop of players; and if my 
 coarse habits will sometimes look out, why 
 that's no fault of mine, but of those wor- 
 thy paupers that thought proper to steal 
 me in my infancy. There are hours, Ber- 
 tram, in which I have longings, longings 
 keen as those of women with child — long- 
 ings for conversations with men of higher 
 faculties — men that I could understand — 
 men that could answer me — aye, and that 
 would answer me, and not turn away from 
 the poor vagabond with disdain." 
 
 " And you have chosen me for such a 
 comrade ? " 
 
 " As you please : that rests with your- 
 self. But, Bertram, at any rate, I rejoice 
 to find amongst my equals one that does 
 not — as others do of the plebeian rout — 
 live the sport of the passing moment, — one 
 that risks his life, yet in risking it knows 
 what life is — that has eyes to see — thoughts 
 to think, — feelings but such a dissem- 
 bling hypocrite as you" (and here he smiled) 
 
28 WALI.ADMOR. 
 
 " will laugh when he hears a mffian talk of 
 feelings," 
 
 " Your wish is, then, to find some well- 
 educated comrade, who, when your con- 
 science is troublesome, may present your 
 crimes under their happiest aspect — may 
 take the sting out of your offences, and give 
 to the wicked deed the colouring of a noble 
 one?" 
 
 Nicholas knit his brows, and said with a 
 quick and stem voice : 
 
 " What I have done I shall never deny : 
 neither here nor there above — if any above 
 or below there be. I want nobody to 
 call my deeds by pretty names, neither be- 
 fore they are executed nor after. What I 
 want is a friend ; one to whom I could con- 
 fide my secret thoughts without kneeling 
 as before a priest — or confessing as to a 
 judge: one that will rush with me like a 
 hurricane into life, till w^e are both in our 
 graves; or one that refusing to do this, 
 and standing himself upright, would yet 
 
WALLADMOR. 29 
 
 allow the poor guilty outcast to attach him- 
 self to his support, and sometimes to re- 
 pose his weary head upon a human heart." 
 
 Bertram stared at him ; whjch the other 
 observed, and said smilingly : 
 
 " You wonder at my pathos : but you 
 must recollect that I told you I had once 
 been amongst players." 
 
 " Speak frankly — what is it you wish of 
 me?" 
 
 " This I wish : will you either run joint 
 hazard with me — and try your fortunes in 
 this country ; — or will you take your own 
 course, but now and then permit me, when 
 my heart is crazed by passion, by solitude, 
 and unparticipated anguish, — to lighten it 
 by your society ? " 
 
 " Once for all I declare to you, with re- 
 spect to your first proposal, that I mil enter 
 into no unlawful connexions." 
 
 " Be it so : that word is enough. You 
 refuse to become an adventurer like my- 
 self? I ask not for your reasons; your 
 
30 AV'AI.LADMOR. 
 
 ^^ill in such a case is law enough. But 
 then can you, in the other sense, be my 
 friend ? " 
 
 " Rash man ! whence is it that you de- 
 rive such boundless confidence in me ? " 
 
 Nicholas stepped up to the young man 
 nearer than before — looked him keenly but 
 kindly in the eyes — as if seeking to revive 
 some remembrance in him ; then pressed 
 his hand, and said — 
 
 " Have you forgotten then that poor 
 wretch in the the tumult of the waves, to 
 whom, when he was in his agony, thou, 
 Bertram, didst resign thy own security — 
 and didst descend into the perilous and 
 rocking waters ? Deeply, oh deeply, I am 
 in thy debt ; far more deeply I would be, 
 when I ask for favours such as this." 
 
 " Is it possible ? Are you he ? But 
 now I recollect your forehead was then 
 hidden by streaming hair: convulsive spasms 
 played about your lips ; and your face was 
 disguised by a long beard." 
 
WAI-LADMOR. 31 
 
 *' I am he ; and but for thee should now 
 lie in the bowels of a shark, or spitted upon 
 some rock at the bottom of the ocean. But 
 come, my young friend, come into the open 
 air : for in this vault I feel the air too close 
 and confined." 
 
 Owls and other night birds which had 
 found an asylum here, disturbed by the 
 steps of the two nightly wanderers, now 
 soared aloft to the highest turrets. At 
 length after moving in silence for some 
 minutes, both stepped out through the 
 pointed arch of a narrow gate-way into the 
 open air upon a lofty battlement. Nicholas 
 seized Bertram's hand, with the action of 
 one who would have checked him at some 
 dangerous point ; — and, making a gesture 
 which expressed — " look before you ! " he 
 led him to the outer edge of the wall. At 
 this moment the full moon in perfect glory 
 burst from behind a towering pile of clouds, 
 and illuminated a region such as the young 
 man had hitherto scarcely known by de- 
 
32 WALLADMOR. 
 
 scriptioii. Dizzily he looked down upon 
 what seemed a bottomless abyss at his feet. 
 The Abbey-wall, on which he stood, built 
 with colossal art, was but the crest or sur- 
 mounting of a steep and monstrous wall of 
 rock, which rose out of depths in which his 
 eye could find no point on which to settle. 
 On the other side of this immeasurable 
 gulph lay in deep shadow — the main range 
 of Snowdon ; whose base was perhaps co- 
 vered with thick forests, but whose summit 
 and declivities displayed a dreary waste. 
 Dazzled by the grandeur of the spectacle, 
 Bertram would have sought repose for his 
 eye by turning round ; but the new scene 
 was, if not greater, still more striking. 
 From his lofty station he overlooked the 
 spacious ruins of the entire monastery, as 
 its highest points silvered over by moon- 
 light shot up from amidst the illimitable 
 night of ravines, chasms, and rocky peaks 
 that form the dependencies of Snowdon. 
 Add to these permanent features of the 
 
WALL ADM OR. S3 
 
 scene the impressive accident of the time — 
 midnight, with an universal stillness in the 
 air, and the whole became a fairy scene, in 
 which the dazzled eye comprehended only 
 the total impression, without the separate 
 details or the connexions of its different 
 points. So much however might be infer- 
 red from the w^alls which lay near with 
 respect to those which gleamed in the dis- 
 tance — that the towers and buildings of the 
 abbey had been for the most part built upon 
 prominent peaks of rock. Those only, 
 which w^ere so founded, had resisted the 
 hand of time : while the cross walls which 
 connected them, wanting such a rocky basis, 
 had all fallen in. Solemnly above all the 
 chapels and turrets rose, brilliantly illumi- 
 nated by the moon, the main tower. Upon 
 a solitary crag, that started from the deeps, 
 it stood with a boldness that seemed to pro- 
 claim defiance on the part of man to na- 
 ture — and victorious efforts of his hands 
 over all her opposition. Round about it 
 
 VOL. II. D 
 
34 AVAI.I-ADMOT?. 
 
 every atom of the connecting masonry had 
 mouldered away and sunk into heaps of 
 rubbish below — so that all possibility of 
 reaching the tower seemed to be cut off. 
 But beyond this tower Gothic fretwork and 
 imperfect windows rose from the surround- 
 ing crags ; and in many places were seen 
 pillars springing from two dissevered points 
 of rock — rising higher and higher — and 
 at last inclining towards each other in vast 
 arches ; but the central stones that shoidd 
 have locked the architraves of the mighty 
 gates were wanting ; and the columns stood 
 to a fanciful eye like two lovers, v^hom na- 
 ture and pure inclination have destined for 
 each other, but whom some malicious mis- 
 chance has separated for ever. Bertram 
 shut his eyes, before the dazzling spectacle : 
 when he opened them again, his guide said 
 with a tranquil voice — in which however a 
 tone of exultation might be distinguished, 
 
 " This is Griffith ap Gauvon, of which 
 I lately spoke to you." 
 
 All words, as Bertram felt, would fail to 
 
WALI.ADMOK :i5 
 
 express the strength of his emotions : lan- 
 guage would but have violated the solemni- 
 ty of the thoughts which riveted his gaze to 
 the scene before him. He was silent tliere- 
 fore ; and in a fev; moments his companion 
 resumed : 
 
 " Here, Bertram, do I often stand on 
 the giddy precipice ; and I look down upon 
 the dread tranquillity of the spectacle ; and 
 then often I feel as though I wanted no 
 friend ; as though nature, the mighty mo- 
 ther, were a sufficient friend that fulfilled 
 all my mshes — a friend far better and 
 wiser than any which the false world can 
 offer. But, Bertram, come a little further ! " 
 
 He led him, sideways, fi'om that part 
 of the building out of which they had issued 
 by the little portal about 100 yards fur- 
 ther. The wall, scarce three feet wide, stood 
 here nearly insulated : and was on the one 
 side bounded by the abyss just described, 
 and on the other by what might have 
 been an inner court — that lay liowever at 
 d2 
 
36 WALLADMOR. 
 
 least three stories deep below. Nothing 
 but a cross-wall, which rose above the court 
 towards a little tower, touched this main 
 wall. At the extremity of this last, where 
 it broke off abruptly, both stopped. Hard- 
 ly forty steps removed from them, rose the 
 great tower, which in past times doubtless 
 had been connected mth the point at which 
 they stood, but was now divided by as deep 
 a gulph as that which lay to the outside 
 wall. " Further there is nothing," said 
 his guide : " often have 1 come hither and 
 meditated whether I should not make one 
 step onwards, and in that way release my- 
 self from all anxiety about any future steps 
 upon this earth." 
 
 " But the power and the grandeur of 
 nature have arrested you and awed you ? " 
 
 " Right. Look downwards into the 
 abyss before us : — deep, deep below, trickles 
 along, between pebbles and moss and rocky 
 fragment, a little brook : now it is lit up 
 by the moon ; — and at this moment it 
 seems to me as if something were stirring ; 
 
WALLADMOll. 37 
 
 and now something is surely leaping over : 
 — but no — it was deception : often when 
 I have stood here in meditation, and could 
 not comprehend what checked me from 
 taking one hold leap, a golden pillar of 
 moonlight has met me gleaming upwards 
 from the little brook below — (brook that I 
 have haunted in happier days) ; and sud- 
 denly I have risen as if ashamed— and 
 stolen away in silence." 
 
 " Nicholas, do you believe in God ? " 
 
 " Will you know the truth? I have 
 lately learnt to believe." 
 
 " By what happy chance ? " 
 
 " Happy!" and his companion laughed 
 bitterly. " Leagued with bold and despe- 
 rate men, to rid the world of a knot of 
 vipers, for months I had waited for the 
 moment w^hen they should assemble toge- 
 ther, in order to annihilate at one blow the 
 entire brood. Daily we prayed, if you will 
 call that praying, that this moment would 
 arrive : but months after months passed : 
 we waited ; and we despaired. At length 
 
.^8 WAI.I.ADMOK. 
 
 on a day, — I remember it was at noon — in 
 burst a friend upon us and cried out — 
 ' Triumph and glory ! this night the 
 King's ministers all meet at Lord Harrow- 
 by's.' At these words many stern conspira- 
 tors fell on their knees ; others folded their 
 hands — hands (God knows !) but little used 
 to such a folding : I could do neither : I 
 stretched out my arms and cried aloud — 
 Tliere is a Providence ! " 
 
 " Dreadful ! " 
 
 " Spare your horrors, and your morality. 
 Providence, we know, has willed it other- 
 wise : the honourable gentlemen, at whom 
 We had levelled, flourish in prosperity and 
 honour ; and my friends moulder beneatli 
 the scaffold/' 
 
 " Having this origin, I presume that 
 your faith in a Providence is at present — " 
 
 " Unshaken : my dagger was meant for 
 Lord Londonderry : and, although he has 
 escaped my wrath, yet I know not how, 
 but a curse seems to cling to my blade, that 
 whomsoever I have once devoted to it 
 
WALLA DMOU 39 
 
 with full determination of purpose, that 
 man " 
 
 Bertram shuddered, and said, " So then 
 it was a conspirator from Cato-street that I 
 delivered from death ? " 
 
 " Well, push the conspirator over the 
 wall, if you repent." 
 
 " But what carried you amongst such 
 an atrocious band ? What could you reap 
 from the murder of the English ministers ? 
 — no merchant from Amsterdam stood with 
 a full purse in the back ground." 
 
 " One step brings on another, and the 
 rage of licentious mobs cannot be stopped 
 until it has consumed itself Upon the 
 smoking ashes of the old palaces, between 
 the overladen scaffold on one side and the 
 charnel house on the other, blood from each 
 side floating the slippery streets, — then is 
 man's worth put to proof; then it is tried 
 not by his prattling, which he calls elo- 
 quence — nor by his overloaded memory 
 which he calls knowledge : then comes into 
 play the arm, and then the head:" 
 
40 WALLADMOK. 
 
 " And what would you have gained as 
 chief of a maddening populace ?" 
 
 " What should I have gained ? That 
 sort of consideration 1 leave to the ^ learned * 
 and to ' ministers ' and such people : my 
 part is — to resolve and to execute as the 
 crisis arises." 
 
 " So then it was mere appetite for de- 
 struction that drove you on? For that I 
 should scarce have thought yoiu: misan- 
 thropy sufficient." 
 
 " Call it folly, call it frenzy, call it what 
 you will — -but something higher it was that 
 stood in the back ground. A beautiful pic- 
 ture it was when I represented to myself 
 all the great leaders, headless — and in that 
 point on a level with the poor culprit that 
 has just ascended the scaffold for stealing 
 some half a pound of trash. This it was 
 that allured me ; and the pleasure of being 
 myself tlie decapitator ! Then worth should 
 have borne the sway, and merit." 
 
 " Merit? What sort of merit?" 
 
 " You think a blood-hound has none/' 
 
VVALLADMOR. 41 
 
 — said Nicholas, with eyes that shot fire : 
 — " hut he can acquire it. Heaven and 
 Earth ! he that has such marrow — such 
 hlood in his veins — such a will — such an 
 unconquerable will — he can begin a new 
 life : he can be born again. Bertram, do 
 not mock me when I tell you — passionate 
 love has crazed my wits. See, here is a 
 handkerchief of hers ! For her sake do I 
 curse my former life ; for her sake, I would 
 sink its memory into the depths of ocean ! 
 Oh that I could ! that all the waters of the 
 ocean could cleanse this hand ! that I could 
 come up from the deep sea as pure though 
 I were as helpless as an infant ! Once upon 
 a dreadful night — But stop ! what was 
 that ? Did you hear no whispering from 
 
 below ? Once upon a dreadful night : 
 
 Steps go there ! hush ! hush !" 
 
 Bertram's companion here suddenly drew 
 his cloak from his shoulders — rolled it up 
 under his arm — caught his coat-skirts un- 
 der both arms — and stood with head and 
 body bent forwards, whilst his eyes seemed 
 
42 WALl.ADMOil. 
 
 to search and traverse the dark piles of 
 building from which they had issued ; his 
 attitude was that of a stag, that, witli 
 pointed ears and with fore-feet rising for a 
 hound, is looking to the thicket from which 
 the noise issues that has startled him. Ber- 
 tram too threw his eyes over the walls as 
 far as he could to the lower part of the 
 ruins ; and remarked that, if any hostile 
 attack were made, they should be without 
 deliverance ; they were shut in ; and no 
 egress remained except that which would 
 be pre-occupied by their assailants. 
 
 " I believe I was mistaken," said Ni- 
 cholas, drawing his breath again, just as 
 Bertram fancied he saw a stirring of the 
 shadow which lay within the gateway at 
 the further end. He was on the point of 
 communicating what he observed to the 
 other, when suddenly a shot was fired. In 
 that same instant Nicholas had thrown his 
 cloak into the abyss ; and without a word 
 spoken ran straight, with an agility and 
 speed that thunderstruck Bertram, to the 
 
WAI.LADMOll. 43 
 
 archway ; from which figures of armed men 
 were now seen to issue apparently with the 
 intention of intercepting the fugitive. Ber- 
 tram now expected to see a struggle, as 
 Nicholas was running right into the mouth 
 of the danger. But in the midst of his 
 quickest speed he checked — turned to the 
 left about — leaped down with the instinctive 
 agility of a chamois upon the wall below, 
 which, bisecting the inner court, connected 
 the main wall with the outer, and then ran 
 along upon the narrow ridge of this inner 
 wall, interrupted as it was by holes and 
 loose stones. At every instant Bertram 
 expected to see him fall and never rise 
 again. But the danger to Nicholas came fiom 
 another quarter. The pursuers, it would 
 seem, had calculated on the intrepidity and 
 agility of their man, and another group of 
 men faced him on the opposite side. No 
 choice appeared left to the fugitive — but to 
 surrender, or to leap down. Suddenly he 
 stood still, pulled out of his belt a brace of 
 pistols— fired one in each hand upon the 
 
44 WALI.ADMOK. 
 
 antagonists who stood near to him ; and, 
 whilst these shrank back in sudden surprise, 
 though no one appeared wounded, with in- 
 credible dexterity and speed he sank from 
 the eyes of Bertram — and disappeared. In 
 a moment after Bertram thought he heard 
 a dull sound as of a sullen plunge through 
 briars and brambles into the rubbish below. 
 All was then still. 
 
 *• One has burst the net," exclaimed the 
 men, " but there stands his comrade : and, 
 if he prove the right one, no matter what 
 becomes of the other." So saying, both 
 parties neared cautiously to possess them- 
 selves of Bertram. 
 
 On his part Bertram had no wish, as 
 indeed (he v/as aware) no power, to escape 
 them. Advancing therefore with a tranquil 
 demeanour, he surrendered himself at once : 
 and the next moment an Irishman of the 
 party, being summoned to examine his 
 features, held up a torch to his face and 
 solemnly pronounced the prisoner to be that 
 Nicholas of whom they were in search. 
 
WALLADMOl?. 45 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Prot. 'Tis wonderful dark ! I have lost my man ; 
 And dare not call for him, but [ should have 
 More followers than I would pay wages to. 
 ^\''hat throes am I in — in this travel ! These 
 Be honourable adventures ! 
 
 Beaumont and Fletcher : Thierry and Theodor. 
 
 " Come, kt's away from this old monk's 
 nest," said one of the constables, " for it 
 looks uncanny." 
 
 " Aye, Sampson, and who knows but 
 some of Nicholas's gang may be lurking 
 behind the pillars ? " 
 
 " Nay it's not altogether that I'm think- 
 ing of ; but the old monks with their cowls ; 
 and Merlin ; and God knows how many 
 ghosts beside; — I could fancy that I saw 
 some of them just now at the end of these 
 long galleries. So let's away." 
 
 Others however objected that they were 
 
4'6 WAiJ.ADi^roi?. 
 
 starved by their long watching in the cokl, 
 and stood in need of refreshments. It was 
 determined therefore to make a halt. Two 
 men staid by the prisoner, whilst the rest 
 collected wood and soon succeeded in light- 
 ing a prodigious fire upon the spacious area 
 before the main entrance into the Abbey. 
 Round this the party collected : a hamper 
 of smuggled claret, which they had fortu- 
 nately intercepted on its road from the 
 abbey, was unpacked : wine and the genial 
 warmth of the fire disposed all present ex- 
 cept the prisoner to mirth and festivity ; 
 and not one soul but seemed to regard it as 
 a point of conscience to reward their fatigue 
 and celebrate their success by getting roy- 
 ally intoxicated. 
 
 " Why so downcast, my lad?" said one 
 of the constables to Bertram ; " in my youth 
 I was as near to the gallows as you ; and 
 yet you see I am now virtuous ; and a man 
 of credit in the state." 
 
 " Aye, Sampson," said Kilmary, " unless 
 
WALL AD MOT?. 47 
 
 you're much belied, you got your reprieve 
 just as you were going to be turned off." 
 
 " And you, Kilmary, got yours something 
 later : for I've often heard that you were 
 cut down after hanging some five minutes 
 or so. This was in Wicklow, gentlemen : 
 and being in time of rebellion there was so 
 much business that they were often obliged 
 to employ dilettanti artists in hanging : 
 and now and then there was not time to go 
 through the work properly. — But, as I was 
 saying, courage my young lad. Were I in 
 your place, I would bless my stars that I 
 had fallen into the company of honest men, 
 and got rid of such rascally friends as 
 yours, that run away at the pinch. You 
 see by this that no dependance can be 
 placed upon such villains, and that virtue 
 only can be relied on. Oh ! I could preach 
 finely to you, my boy : but where's the use 
 of it? If you're hanged, you'll not want 
 it : and, if you're not hanged, you'll forget 
 it." 
 
48 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Bertram meantime had for a moment 
 withdrawn his attention from the unplea- 
 sant circumstances of his own situation to 
 the striking features of the scene before 
 him. In the back ground lay Snowdon 
 bending into a vast semicircus, and absorb- 
 ing into its gigantic shadows the minor hills 
 which lay round its base : all were melted 
 into perfect unity : and from the height of 
 its main range the whole seemed within a 
 quarter of a mile from the spot which he 
 himself occupied. Between this and the 
 abbey lay a level lawn, chequered with 
 moonlight and the mighty shadows of 
 Snowdon. Of the abbey itself many parts 
 appeared in the distance; sullen recesses 
 which were suddenly and partially revealed 
 by the fluctuating glare of the fire ; aerial 
 windows through which the sky gleamed in 
 splendour, unless when it was obscured for 
 a moment by the clouds which sailed across ; 
 pinnacles and crosses of sublime altitude in 
 the remote distance ; and in the immediate 
 
WALLADMOR. 49 
 
 foreground the great gateway of the abbey 
 and the wide circle of armed men carousing 
 about the fire in sitting or recumbent atti- 
 tudes. 
 
 From this fine natural composition, which 
 he contemplated with a half regret that 
 Merlin did not really make his appearance 
 from some long gallery or gloomy arch- way 
 leading Salvator Rosa by the hand, Bertram 
 w^as suddenly called off to the conversation 
 around him — which, as the wine began to 
 act, had gradually risen into the high key 
 of violent altercation. A reward of 500/. 
 had been offered, as he now^ collected, for 
 the apprehension of Nicholas ; and the 
 dispute turned upon the due appropriation 
 of this sum. 
 
 " What the d 1, Sampson ! rank or 
 
 precedency has nothing to do in this case : 
 that's settled, and we are all to share* alike." 
 
 " D your impudence," cried Samp- 
 son — " Social distinctions in all things: 
 it's as clear as sunlight in October that I, as 
 
 vox,. IT. E 
 
50 WALLADMOK. 
 
 leader and the man of genius, am to have 
 300/. ; and you divide the other 200/. 
 amongst you." 
 
 "What?" said the Irishman: "200/. 
 amongst eight men ?" 
 
 " Why, as for you, Kihnary, you get 
 nothing. You stayed behind and wouldn't 
 venture yourself upon the wall." 
 
 " No : Red-hair, you sheer off," ex- 
 claimed all the rest : but Red-hair pro- 
 tested against this ; and almost screamed 
 with wrath : 
 
 " By rights I should have half," said Kil- 
 mary ; " for without me you would never 
 have known who he was." 
 
 " Not a farthing more than according to 
 merit; and then your share will come 
 short." 
 
 Kilmary leaped up and clenched his fist ; 
 
 " May the great devil swallow ." But 
 
 scarce had he uttered a word, when a shot 
 was fired; then a second — a third — a fourth; 
 and a wild shout arose at a little distance of — 
 
WALLADMOK. 51 
 
 '* Cut them down!" 
 
 Sampson had fallen hack wounded : hut, 
 full of presence of mind, he called out to 
 the Irisliman — " Seize him, Kilmary ! seize 
 the prisonei*, or he'll escape." 
 
 But Kilmary had heen the first to es- 
 cape himself ; some others had followed : 
 two of more resolution were preparing to 
 execute the orders of the constable ; when 
 suddenly they were assailed so fiercely that 
 one tumbled into the fire, and the other 
 rolled over the wounded constable. An 
 uproar of shouts and curses arose : and in 
 this tumult Bertram found himself seized 
 by two stout fellows who hurried him off, 
 before he had time to recollect himself, into 
 the shades of a neighboiu-ing thicket. Here, 
 where nobody could discover them by the 
 light of the fire, they made a halt and cut 
 the cords that confined the prisoner. 
 
 " Take breath for a moment," said one 
 of his conductors, " and then away with us 
 E 2 
 
52 WALLADMOR. 
 
 through thick and thin, before the blood- 
 hounds rally/' 
 
 " Captain Nicholas, shall we give them 
 another round ? " said a voice which struck 
 Bertram as one which he had somewhere 
 heard before. 
 
 " No, no, Tom, — let us be quiet whilst 
 we are well ; we have executed our work in 
 a workmanlike style : another discharge 
 would but serve to point out the course of 
 our flight : for fly we must ; a little bird 
 whispered in my ear that they have a rear 
 guard : and it will be well if we all reach 
 our quarters this night in safety : to do 
 which, my lads, our best chance will be to 
 disperse ; so good night to you all, and 
 thanks for your able services. i\Ir. Ber- 
 tram, I will put you in the way." 
 
 All the rest immediately stole away like 
 shadows amongst the bushes ; and Bertram 
 again, found himself alone with Edward 
 Nicholas, who row guided him away from 
 the neighbourhood of the abbey by intricate 
 
WALLADMOR. 53 
 
 and almost impracticable paths up hill and 
 down — through blind lanes and the shadowy- 
 skirts of forests — and once or twice along 
 the pebbly channels of the little mountain 
 brooks. On such ground Bertram often 
 lost his footing ; and Nicholas, who kept 
 a-head, was more than once obliged to turn 
 back and lend him his assistance. It was 
 with no little pleasure therefore that at 
 length he found himself again upon a level 
 path which wound amongst the crags and 
 woodlands — but in so mazy a track that it 
 required little less than an Indian sagacity 
 to hit it. From this they immerged into a 
 series of ridings cut through the extensive 
 woods of Tre Mawr; and, as they ap- 
 proached the end of one of these alleys, 
 Bertram saw before them a wide heath 
 stretching like a sea under the brilliant 
 light of the wintry moon which had now 
 attained her meridian altitude. 
 
 " Here/' said Nicholas, as they issued 
 upon the heath, " here we must part : for 
 
54 WALI.ADMOK. 
 
 the road, which I must pursue, would be 
 too difficult for a person unacquainted with 
 the ground. — You, I suppose, admire this 
 bright moon and the deluge of light she 
 sheds : so do not I ; and I heartily wish 
 some poet or sonneteer had her in his 
 pocket : for a dark night would have fa- 
 voured our retreat much better. As it is, 
 we must cross the heath by separate routes. 
 You shall have the easiest. Do you see 
 that black point on the heath ? It is a stone 
 of remarkable size and shape. When you 
 reach it, turn to the left ; and then, upon 
 coming to the peat- trenches, to the right — 
 until you arrive at a little hill : from the 
 summit of this, and about a mile distant, 
 you will observe some inclosures ; there 
 dwells Evan Williams : mention my name, 
 and he will gladly harbour you until the 
 heat of the pursuit is over. I will contrive 
 to communicate with you in a day or two 
 by means of Tom Godber — the young man 
 who spoke to mc as we left Ap Gauvon" 
 
WAI.IvADMOK. 55 
 
 " All ! by the way, I thought I knew his 
 voice : lie is the son then of old Mrs. Gillie 
 Godber from Anglesea ? " 
 
 " Exactly : and he is a helper in the 
 stables at Walladmor Castle. You may 
 trust him safely ; for he is entirely attached 
 to my interests : but now good night ; for 
 there is every appearance of snow coming 
 on : it has been threatening for the last 
 twenty-four hours : cold so severe as this is 
 always the harbinger of snow ; and, from 
 the appearance of the sky at this moment, 
 I doubt there will be a heavy fall before 
 morning : good night !" 
 
 So saying Edward Nicholas struck across 
 the heath, leaving Bertram in some per- 
 plexity as to the course he ought to adopt. 
 He was aware that the most favourable step 
 to the establishment of his own innocence 
 would be to disclaim all voluntary partici- 
 pation in the late rescue by surrendering 
 himself again to the officers of justice. Yet 
 3ie could not but feel that to retrace his 
 
56 AVALI.ADMOR. 
 
 steps to Ap Gauvon was a matter of peril 
 or impossibility under any state of the 
 weather : and at this moment the threaten- 
 ing aspect of the sky, over which a curtain 
 of clouds was gradually drawing, combined 
 with his own weariness and craving for rest 
 to urge him onwards upon the route pointed 
 out by Nicholas. There was no time for 
 long deliberations : the moon was now left 
 in a deep gulph of the heavens, which the 
 thick pall of clouds was hastening every 
 moment to close over : and with some 
 anxiety Bertram started off hastily in the 
 direction of the stone. This he reached 
 without much difficulty ; took the right 
 turn ; and hoped soon to arrive at the peat- 
 ditch which formed the second point in his 
 ca?He du pays. After walking however for 
 a longer time than seemed requisite for tra- 
 versing the distance, he began to fear that he 
 had wandered from the track. He turned ; 
 grew anxious ; diverged a little to the 
 right, and then again to the left, in hopes of 
 
WALLADMOll. 57 
 
 coming upon the object he was m search of; 
 then turned again ; and finally lost all 
 knowledge of his bearing or the direction 
 in which he had just come. Mounting a 
 little rising ground he beheld the abbey of 
 Ap Gauvon, apparently two miles distant, 
 still reddening with the angry glare of 
 torches — sometimes gleaming over the outer 
 walls, sometimes flashing from the windows 
 or upper battlements ; a proof that the 
 police-officers had not yet renounced all 
 hopes of recovering their prisoner. This 
 spectacle did not tend to restore him to his 
 self-possession : he descended the hill in 
 trepidation : and, on reaching its foot, 
 anxiously considered what it would be best 
 to do. At this moment, the touch of 
 something wet and cold upon his face 
 struck a deadly chill to his heart : he hoped 
 he might be mistaken ; but the next instant 
 came a second — a third — a fourth, until 
 the whole air was filled with snow-flakes. 
 Raising his head at this time he beheld the 
 
58 WALI.ADMOK, 
 
 moon, at an immense altitude above him, 
 shooting down her light through a shaft as 
 it were in the clouds : the slender orifice of 
 the shaft contracted : a sickly mist spread 
 over the disk of the luminary ; in a moment 
 after all was gone; and one unbroken 
 canopy of thick dun clouds muffled the 
 whole hemisphere. 
 
 In this perplexity what was he to do ? 
 From the hill, which he had just descended, 
 he remembered to have seen some dark ob- 
 ject, apparently about half a mile distant : 
 this might be a hovel or small cottage ; 
 and in this direction he determined to run. 
 The snow was now in his back ; and the 
 dark spot soon began to swell upon his 
 sight : in five minutes more he came up to 
 it. He felt about for door or window ; 
 but could find none : and great was his 
 disappointment when, upon more attentive 
 examination, he perceived that what he had 
 mistaken for a place of shelter was the 
 antique stone gallows which he had passed 
 
WALLADMOK. 59 
 
 ill the afternoon. Under the lee of this old 
 monument of elder days he was seeking out 
 a favourable spot for a temporary shelter 
 from the violence of the storm, when to his 
 sudden horror and astonishment up started 
 a tall female figure and seized him eagerly 
 by the arm. At first she seemed speechless 
 from some strong passion, and shaken as if 
 by an ague fit : but, in a few moments she 
 recovered her voice ; and with piercing 
 tones, in which, though trembling from 
 agitation, Bertram immediately recognized 
 those of poor Gillie Godber, she ex- 
 claimed — 
 
 " Ah Gregory ! is it you ? Are you 
 come at last? — ^ly darling ! I have waited 
 for thee — oil how long ! Four and twenty 
 years I have wept and watched, and watch- 
 ed and wept. — Oh come with me, my boy 
 — my boy ! God's curse on them that ever 
 took thee away ! Turn to me, my son : 
 oh come, come, come, come ! " 
 
 With the energy of a maniac she flung 
 
60 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 her withered arm about his neck : but 
 Bertram was so overcome by the sudden 
 shock of sui-prise, and by mingled emotions 
 of awe, pity, and distraction of pui-pose, on 
 finding himself thus suddenly in the arms 
 of a lunatic, that he tore himself violently 
 away and ran off ^\ithout asking himself 
 whither. The poor frantic mother pursued 
 him, with outstretched arms and her aged 
 locks streaming upon the wind ; crying out 
 continually, 
 
 " Gregory, my love ! turn back : the 
 wind is high and stormy ; and the snow- 
 flakes are driving — driving — driving! I 
 have kept a fire to warm you in Anglesea 
 for four and twenty years. Turn back to 
 me, my bonny lad ! my love ! my darl- 
 ing ! " 
 
 Her powers were unable to support her 
 in this contest of speed with the energies of 
 a young man suddenly restored by the ex- 
 citement of panic : and, on looking back 
 within half a minute, Bertram perceived 
 
WALLADMOR. 61 
 
 that her figure was already obscured by the 
 tumult of snow which raged in the air. 
 Her shrill voice however still at intervals 
 forced its way to his ear, in the very teeth 
 of the wind, and contributed to aggravate 
 the distressing circumstances of his situa- 
 tion at this moment. It was a situation 
 indeed which might have shaken the forti- 
 tude of one more accustomed to struggle 
 with danger. The clouds had now lost 
 their colour of yellowish dun, and assumed 
 a livid lead colour which contrasted power- 
 fully with the white livery in which all 
 things were already arrayed: the snow 
 flakes, conflicting with the baffling wind 
 as they descended, " tormented all the air," 
 — and, to the eye of one looking upwards, 
 seemed to cross — thwart — and mazily in- 
 terweave with each other as rapidly as a 
 weaver's shuttle, and with the lambent scin- 
 tillating lustre of fire-flies : and the plashes 
 or shallow pools of water, which were fre- 
 quent in this part of the heath amongst 
 
62 WALLADMOR. 
 
 the excavations from which peats had been 
 dug, now began under the sudden break- 
 ing up of the frost to give way beneath 
 their warm covering of snow to the weight 
 of a man. The wind, which was likely to 
 subside as the fall of snow grew more 
 settled, at present blew a perfect hurricane ; 
 and unfortunately the accidental direction 
 which Bertram had taken on extricating 
 himself from the poor mad woman, — a di- 
 rection which he was imwilling to change 
 from his fear of again falling in with her, 
 — brought him into direct opposition to it. 
 To these disheartening and bewildering 
 circumstances of his present situation were 
 added those of previous exhaustion, cold, 
 hunger, and anxiety in regard to the pro- 
 bable construction of the share he had 
 borne, as a passive spectator, in the events 
 of the day ; having, however unintention- 
 ally, become a party in the eye of the law 
 to the attack on the revenue officers — and 
 possibly, as he feared, to that upon the 
 
WALLADMOR. G3 
 
 police officers at Ap Gauvou. Under all 
 these circumstances of distress however he 
 continued to make way; but more and 
 more slowly : and at length, whilst cowr- 
 ing his head before the blinding drift of 
 the snow, he plunged unawares into a peat 
 trench. He found himself up to the 
 shoulders in water; and with some diffi- 
 culty crawled out on the opposite bank. 
 This, which under other circumstances 
 might have been regarded as a misfortune, 
 now turned out a very serviceable event: 
 for the sudden shock of this cold bath not 
 only communicated a stimulus to the 
 drooping powers of his frame, and liberated 
 him from the sleepy torpor which had been 
 latterly stealing over him, — but, by urging 
 him to run as vigorously as he could in 
 order to shake off the extreme chill which 
 now seized him, tended still more to restore 
 the action of his animal powers. A re- 
 viving hope too had suddenly sprung up 
 that this might be the peat trench to which 
 
64 WALLADMOR. 
 
 the directions of Nicholas referred : and he 
 ran with alacrity and ehearfulness. In this 
 course however he was all at once arrested 
 by a violent blow on his temples. Raising 
 his head, which he still carried slanting 
 against the wind, to his sudden joy he dis- 
 covered in the cause of this rude shock a 
 most welcome indication of approach to 
 some beaten road, and probably to the dwell- 
 ings of men. It was a lofty pole, such as 
 is ordinarily erected upon moorish or moun- 
 tainous tracts against the accidents of deep 
 snow. Bertram's hopes were realized. At 
 a little distance he found a second pole, 
 then a third, and a fourth, &c. until at 
 length he dropped down upon a little clus- 
 ter of cottages. He saw indeed neither 
 house, nor tree, nor hedge before him : for 
 even a whole village at such a time — its 
 low roofs all white with snow — would not 
 have been distinguishable : but he heard 
 the bleating of sheep. Seldom had his 
 lieart throbbed with such a sudden thrill of 
 
WALLADMOR. 65 
 
 gladness as at this sound. With hurried steps 
 he advanced, and soon found a low hedge 
 which \vithout hesitation he climbed; he 
 felt the outer wall of a house, but could 
 not find the door. Close to the house 
 however was a wooden barn, from which 
 issued the bleating which had so much 
 gladdened the poor wanderer ; and to this 
 he directed his steps. 
 
 Many a reader, when he runs over this 
 chapter by his warm fire-side, or possibly 
 in summer, will not forbear laughing. But 
 whosoever, led by pleasure or necessity, has 
 in winter roamed over a heath in the Scotch 
 Highlands, and has been fairly mist- 
 foundered, — knows what a blessed haven 
 for the weary and frozen way-farer is a 
 reeking sheep-cote. The author of this 
 novel speaks here feelingly and from a me- 
 morable personal experience : upon a ro- 
 mantic pedestrian excursion from Edin- 
 burgh to the western parts of Strathnavem 
 he once lost his way in company with his 
 
 VOL. II. F 
 
66 WALI.ADMOIi. 
 
 friend, Thomas Vaiiley, Esq. who departed 
 this life about ten years ago, but will live 
 for ever in his tender recollection. After 
 wandering for several hours in the thickest 
 mist upon this Novembry heath, and w^hat 
 by moorish ground — what by the dripping 
 atmosphere being thoroughly soaked, and 
 stiffening with cold, the author and Mr. 
 Vanley discovered on a declivity of the 
 bleak Mount Patrick a solitary hovel. It 
 stood apart from all houses or dwellings ; 
 and even the shepherd on this particular 
 night had stolen away (probably on a love- 
 tryst) : however, if the shepherd was gone, 
 his sheep were not : and we found about 
 fifty of them in the stall, which had re- 
 cently been littered with fine clean straw. 
 We clambered over the hurdle at the door ; 
 and made ourselves a warm cozy lair 
 amongst the peaceful animals. Many 
 times after in succeeding years Mr. Vanley 
 assured me — that, although he had in 
 India (as is well known to the public) 
 
WALLADMOR. ^ 
 
 enjoyed all the luxuries of a Nabob whilst 
 he served in those regions under Sir Arthur 
 Wellesley, yet never had any Indian bed 
 been so voluptuous to him as that straw- 
 bed amongst the sheep upon the desolate 
 wilds of Mount Patrick. 
 
 To his great delight Bertram found the 
 door of the barn only latched : without 
 noise he opened it just wide enough to ad- 
 mit his person ; and then, closing it again 
 cautiously, climbed over the great hurdle 
 which barricadoed the entrance. Then he 
 groped along in a stooping posture — feeling 
 his way on the ground, as he advanced, 
 with his hands ; but, spite of all his pre- 
 caution, the sheep were disturbed; they 
 fled from him bleating tumultuously, as 
 commonly happens when a stranger intrudes 
 amongst them, and crowded to the furthest 
 corner of the bam. Much greater was his 
 alarm however when all at once he stum- 
 bled with his hands upon a long out- 
 stretched human body. He shrank back 
 F 2 
 
68 WALLADMOR. 
 
 with sudden trepidation ; drew in his 
 breath ; and kept himself as still as death. 
 But, observing by the hard and uniform 
 breathing that it was a man buried in pro- 
 found sleep, he stepped carefully over him, 
 and sought a soft and warm bed in the re- 
 motest corner of the barn. Luckily he 
 found means to conciliate the aboriginal 
 tenants of the barn ; and in no long time 
 two fleecy lambs couched beside him ; and 
 he was forced to confess that after the 
 fatigues of such a day no bed could have 
 been more grateful or luxurious. 
 
WALl.ADMOK. 69 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Sotn. O monstrous traitor ! — I arrest thee, York, 
 Of capital treason 'gainst the king and crown : 
 Obey, audacious traitor ! 
 
 Henry VI. Second Part, 
 
 On awaking the next morning, Bertram 
 perceived by the strength of the light now 
 brightened by reflexion from the dazzling 
 snow that the morning was far advanced ; 
 and, rising hastily from his bed of heath 
 and fern, he was somewhat startled to per- 
 ceive a whole family of women and children 
 standing at a little distance and surveying 
 him with looks of anxious curiosity checked 
 however and disturbed by something of 
 fear and suspicion. These feelings appeared 
 a little to give way before the interesting 
 appearance of the youthful stranger ; an 
 
70 WALLADMOIL 
 
 expression of pity arose for the distress 
 which could have brought him into that 
 situation : and in a few words of Welsh, 
 which were rendered intelligible to Bertram 
 by the courteous gestures which accom- 
 panied them, he was invited into the house 
 — and seated by a blazing fire of peat and 
 wood. With the cheerful hospitality of 
 mountaineers, his fair hostesses proceeded 
 to prepare breakfast for him ; and Bertram 
 had no reason to complain of any coldness 
 or remissness in their attentions. Yet, in 
 the midst of all their kindness, he coidd 
 not but discover an air of lurking distrust 
 which somewhat embarrassed him. At 
 first he had accounted for this upon the 
 natural shock which it must have given to 
 a few women to find an unknown intruder 
 upon their premises dressed in a foreign 
 style, and occupying so very unusual a 
 situation amongst their sheep. And this 
 interpretation appeared the more reasonable 
 
WALLADMOR. 71 
 
 — as he now became aware that the women 
 and children were left almost to their own 
 protection : for the house was in a lonely 
 situation ; and all the men of the family 
 were abroad, except an imbecile grey-beard 
 whom one of the young women addressed 
 as her grandfather. All fears however, 
 Bertram flattered himself, should have been 
 dispersed immediately by his appearance 
 and the gentleness of his demeanour: 
 much therefore it perplexed him to observe 
 after the lapse of some time that the ^y- 
 ness and something like displeasure, which 
 had at first clouded the faces of his fair 
 friends, seemed in no degree to give way 
 before his amiable looks and manners. The 
 children in particular, he remarked, re- 
 garded him with eyes of dislike, and rejected 
 all his advances. Happening to follow 
 them to the door for a moment, he there 
 observed what threw some light upon the 
 case : the children were mourning over the 
 body of a dog which lay dead in the coiner 
 
T2 WALLADMOR. 
 
 of a little garden : and, from the angry 
 glances which they directed at himself, he no 
 longer doubted that they regarded him 
 as the destroyer of their favourite. To a 
 young man of sensibility and amiable dis- 
 position, and chiefly in search of the pic- 
 turesque, it was peculiarly unpleasant to 
 find himself the object of such a suspicion. 
 To lie under the reproach of an act, which, 
 unless it were a necessary act, was a very 
 savage and brutal one, — must naturally be 
 painful under any circumstances; much 
 more so at a time when he was indebted to 
 the goodness of the family, whom he was 
 supposed to have thus wantonly injured, 
 for the most hospitable attentions. At this 
 moment a sudden recollection darted into 
 his mind of his nocturnal companion in the 
 barn, to whom he doubted not the death of 
 the dog was to be attributed. Unable how- 
 ever from his ignorance of the Welsh lan- 
 guage to explain this circumstance, or to 
 make his own vindication, he prepared to 
 
WALLADMOR. 73 
 
 liberate himself from the uneasy and hu- 
 miliating situation, in which he now found 
 himself placed, by taking his leave as soon 
 as possible. 
 
 At this moment an ill-looking fellow, 
 who seemed to have some acquaintance 
 with the family, entered the cottage : he 
 fixed his eyes keenly upon Bertram ; and, 
 when the latter rose to depart, offered him- 
 self as a guide to IMachynleth. Bertram 
 had noticed his scrutiny with some uneasi- 
 ness and displeasure ; but having no ready 
 excuse for declining his offers, nor indeed 
 seeing any use in doing so, he said that he 
 would be glad to avail himself of his ser- 
 vices ; took his hat ; and, bowing to the 
 family with as much composure and as 
 obliging an air as his embarrassing feelings 
 would allow, moved towards the door. On 
 this there was a general murmur amongst 
 the women ; and a sudden stir as if from 
 some wish to detain him. Their looks 
 meantime expressed compassion : and^ Ber- 
 
74 WALLADMOR. 
 
 tram discovered no signs of any hostile 
 intention : yet, as he was unable to imagine 
 any reason advantageous to himself which 
 they could have for detaining him, he per- 
 sisted in departing. 
 
 The day was beautiful ; but the roads 
 were heavy and toilsome to the foot-pas- 
 senger ; for the snow lay deep ; alid frost 
 had succeeded just suflicient to glaze the 
 surface into a crispness which retarded 
 without absolutely resisting the pressure of 
 the foot. Their progress was therefore 
 slow : but they had floundered on between 
 two and three miles : and as yet Bertram 
 had found no cause for openly expressing 
 his dissatisfaction with his guide. The 
 manners and deportment of the man were 
 indeed unpleasant : his head he carried in 
 a drooping posture ; never looked directly 
 in Bertram's face ; and now and then eyed 
 him askance. Occasionally he fell behind 
 a little ; and once, u^wn turning suddenly 
 round, Bertram detected him in the act of 
 
VVALLADMOR. 75 
 
 applying a measure to his footsteps. These 
 were alarming circumstances in his beha- 
 viour : but otherwise he was civil and com- 
 municative in his replies; and showed a 
 good deal of intelligence in his account of 
 the different objects on the road about 
 which Bertram inquired. All at once how- 
 ever he was missing ; and, looking round, 
 Bertram perceived him, at the top of a 
 shght eminence a little to the left of the 
 road, waving his handkerchief and whist- 
 ling a loud summons to some person or 
 party in the neighbourhood. 
 
 " Ah rascal !" cried Bertram : but before 
 he could complete the sentence, his atten- 
 tion was drawn off to a party of horsemen 
 who now wheeled into sight and rapidly 
 extended their line — manoeuvring their 
 horses with the evident purpose of inter- 
 cepting him, if he should attempt to escape. 
 This however, if it had been feasible, was 
 no part of his intention : judging from 
 their appearance that they were police 
 
76 WALLADMOR. 
 
 officers, he advanced to meet them with a 
 firm step — calling out at the same time — 
 
 " Take notice, I surrender myself volun- 
 tarily : the magistrates, I have no doubt, 
 will consider my explanations satisfactory : 
 and all I have to regret is — that any body 
 should have been wounded in an affair con- 
 nected in any way with myself." 
 
 This he said on observing, in the person 
 of one who rode foremost, the " virtuous " 
 Mr. Sampson carrying his arm in a sling. 
 Mr. Sampson however replied to this indi- 
 rect expression of condolence by a sceptical 
 and somewhat satirical grin : 
 
 " Do but hearken to him," said he to 
 the other constables : " hearken to this 
 pious youth : we, that are honest men now, 
 are not so religious by one half. And he 
 can satisfy the magistrates ? Aye, no doubt ; 
 but first he must hang a little ; hang a 
 little, — do you hear, Sir ? But pray, Kil- 
 mary, how came you to let him move off till 
 wc got up ? " 
 
WALLADMOR. 77 
 
 " He wouldn't stay," said Kilmaiy, in 
 whom Bertram now recognised his guide : 
 " nothing would content him but off he 
 must bolt : and the farmer's people would 
 not help me to keep him. Nay, I believe 
 they would have hid him, or let him out at 
 the back door, if he hadn't killed their old 
 dog last night. I palavered to them about 
 the laws, and justice, and what not : but 
 they wouldn't stand it." 
 
 " Faith and I can't blame them," said 
 Sampson : " it's no joke for a lonesome 
 family on a heath side to make an enemy of 
 such a pious youth as our friend here." 
 
 " Well, bind him fast and keep him 
 better than you did the last time : for I 
 shall hardly catch him for you a third time. 
 It was no such easy matter to track him, 
 I'll assure you ; his footmarks were half 
 snowed up." 
 
 " Aye, Kilmary, thou art a good hound 
 for rimning down a fox. To give thee no 
 
78 WALLADMOR. 
 
 more than thy due, thou art a hound in 
 every thing ; a perfect hound," 
 
 " But no hound that will fetch and carry 
 for others, Mr. Sampson : if I'm always to 
 be the hound to hunt the fox home, FU 
 have my right share of the reward." 
 
 " You shall, Kilmary : and what's that ? 
 What's a hound's share? A bone or so 
 when his master has dined : isn't it, Kil- 
 mary ? eh, my boy ? " 
 
 Kilmary muttered a few inarticulate 
 words ; and slunk behind. Meantime the 
 constables dismounted ; and, having hand- 
 cuffed Bertram, passed a cord round his 
 body, the two extremities of which were 
 carried in the hands of Sampson and another, 
 who remounted their horses and led him 
 after them in this felonious style. 
 
 Fortunately for Bertram's comfort, Samp- 
 son's wound obliged him to ride slowly: 
 notwithstanding which he was heartily 
 thankful when, after advancing for some 
 
WAI.T.ADMOT?. 79 
 
 houi*s, they came within view of the church 
 towers at INIachyiileth, distant ahout three 
 miles — and found Alderman Gravesand 
 with a barouche-and-four waiting for them 
 at the top of the hill. 
 
 Bertram was placed in the carriage ; and 
 Sampson took his seat by his side ; KiU 
 mary mounting Sampson's horse. By this 
 time it was four o'clock ; and Alderman 
 Gravesand directed the whole party to push 
 forward at their utmost speed ; "it was 
 his intention to carry the prisoner to Wal- 
 ladmor Castle nearly thirty miles distant ; 
 and he wished to be through Machynleth 
 before the light failed." 
 
 " Would his worship then go through 
 the town ?" asked Sampson : " might it not 
 be better to send forward with orders for 
 horses to meet them in the outskirts, and 
 avoid the town by making a little circuit ? " 
 
 "No:" this proposal the Alderman re- 
 jected, as he would have done any other 
 which looked like a compromise of the 
 
80 WALI.ADMOR. 
 
 magisterial dignity or a concession to the 
 popular spirit. Mr. Gravesand was a man 
 who doated on what he called energy and 
 vigour ; others called it tyranny and the 
 spirit of domineering. Of Lord Chester- 
 field's golden maxim — Suaviter in modo, 
 fortiter in re — he attended so earnestly to 
 the latter half that he generally forgot the 
 former. And upon the present occasion he 
 was resolved to parade his contempt for 
 " the Jacobinical populace " of Machynleth 
 by carrying his prisoner boldly through the 
 midst of them . 
 
 The fact is — that the populace of Ma- 
 chynleth were not Jacobinical, nor ever 
 showed any disposition to insubordination 
 unless in behalf of smuggling (which on 
 this coast was a matter of deep interest to 
 the poor man's comforts), or in cases where 
 Alderman Gravesand was concerned. The 
 Lord Lieutenant, whom they loved and 
 reverenced, could at all times calm them by 
 a word ; and any inferior magistrate, who 
 
WALLABMOR. 81 
 
 would take the least pains to cultivate their 
 good will, was sure of finding them in all 
 ordinary cases reasonable and accessible to 
 persuasion. But for Alderman Gravesand, 
 — who had never missed an ojiportunity of 
 expressing his hatred and affected contempt 
 for them, they were determined on showing 
 him that there was no love lost between 
 them : right or wrong, in every case they 
 gave him as much trouble as they possibly 
 could. And in the present case, which was 
 supposed to be an arrest for some participa- 
 tion in the smuggler's affair of the funeral, 
 they had one motive more than was needed 
 to sharpen the spirit of resistance to the 
 worshipful gentleman. 
 
 VOL. II. 
 
WALLADMOR. Sis' 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Tliat when the people, which had thereabout 
 Long wayted, saw his sudtleii desolation, 
 Thev gan togetlier in tumultuous rout 
 And mutining to stirre up civil faction 
 For certain losse of so great expectation : 
 For well they hoped to have got great good 
 And wondrous riches by his innovation : 
 Therefore resolving to revenge his blood 
 They rose in arraes, and all in battell order stood. 
 
 Fc.enj Qiicene, B. V. C. III. 
 
 Rapidly as the magisterial party moved, 
 the news of their approach had rmi before 
 them ; and, on entering the north gates of 
 Machynleth, they found nearly all the male 
 population in the streets. Large bodies of 
 smugglers were dispersed in the crowd, 
 many of whom saw clearly that the magis- 
 trate was in a mistake as to the person of 
 his prisoner : but they had good reasons for 
 leaving him in his error. Up to the inn- 
 door, where it was foreseen that the carriage 
 would draw up to change horses, no parti- 
 
84 -SVALLADMOR. 
 
 ciilar opposition 'svas offered to the advance of 
 that or it's escort. Hisses indeed, groans, 
 hooting, curses, and every variety of insult 
 short of manual violence, continued to rise 
 in stormy chorus all the way to the inn- 
 door. But the attack, which was obviously 
 in agitation, waited either for the first 
 blow to be struck by some one more daring 
 than the rest — or for some more favourable 
 situation. 
 
 Just as the carriage stopped, an upper 
 window was thrown up, and forth came the 
 liead of My, Dulberry the radical reformer 
 in a perfect panic of exultation. This was 
 the happiest moment of his existence. No 
 longer in mere vision or prophetic rapture, 
 but with his bodily eyes, he beheld the 
 civil authority set at nought, insulted, 
 threatened ; and a storm rising in which he 
 might have the honour to preside and 
 direct- He was suffocated with joy ; and 
 for a minute found himself too much affected 
 to speak. 
 
WALLADMOR. :^$ 
 
 Whilst he was yet speechless, and dis- 
 tracted by the choice amongst ten thousand 
 varieties of argument and advice for the 
 better nursing of the infant riot, — a drunken 
 man advanced from the inn and laid him- 
 self across the street immediately before the 
 feet of the horses which were at this mo- 
 ment harnessing to the carriage, loudly 
 protesting that they should pass over his 
 body before he would see them carry off to 
 a dungeon so noble a martyr to the freedom 
 of trade. Alderman Gravesand directed 
 the constables to remove the man by force. 
 This fired the train of Dulberry's pent-up 
 eloquence. He " adjured the mob by those 
 who met at E^unnymead to resist such an 
 act of lawless power; applauded the heaven- 
 born suggestion of the drunkard ; called 
 upon them all to follow his example ; by 
 Magna Charta every Englishman w^as enti- 
 tled to stretch himself at length in the 
 mud when and where he would ; and at the 
 
B6 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Alderman's peril be it, if he should pre- 
 sume to drive over them." 
 
 Meantime the constables liad seized the 
 man, and tossed him into the a^utter. So 
 far the system of vigour seemed to carry 
 the day. But either this act or the urgency 
 of the time (the horses being now harnessed 
 and the postillions on the point of mount- 
 ing) was the signal for the universal ex- 
 plosion of the popular wrath. Stones, coals, 
 brickbats, whizzed on every side : the traces 
 of the barouche V\'ere cut : the constables 
 were knocked down : those of them, who 
 were seated in the carriage, were collared 
 and pulled out ; excepting only Sampson 
 who, being a powerful and determined man, 
 still kept his hold of Bertram : and the 
 Alderman, who was the main cause of the 
 whole disturbance, was happy to make a pre- 
 cipitate retreat into the inn ; at an upper 
 window of which he soon appeared v»ith tlie 
 Riot Act in his hand. 
 
WALLADMOR. 87 
 
 At this crisis, however, from some indi- 
 cations which he observed below of the 
 state of temper in regard to himself just 
 now prevailing amongst the mob lie 
 thought it prudent to lay aside his first 
 intentions ; and, putting the Riot Act 
 into his pocket, he began to bow ; most 
 awkwardly attempted the new part of 
 gracious conciliator ; expostulated gently ; 
 laid his hand on his heart ; and endeavoured 
 to explain that the prisoner was not arrested 
 for any offence against the revenue laws, 
 but for high treason. Not a syllable of 
 what he said was heard. At the adjoining 
 window stood Mr. Dulberry, labouring with 
 a zeal as ineffectual to heighten and to 
 guide the storm which the Alderman was 
 labouring to lay. Like two rival candidates 
 on the hustings, both stood making a dumb 
 show of grimaces, rhetorical gestures, and 
 passionate appeals ; blowing hot and cold 
 like Boreas and Phoebus in their contest for 
 the traveller ; the one striving to sow, the 
 
B8 WALLADMOR. 
 
 other to extirpate sedition : the reformer 
 blowing the bellows and fanning the fire 
 which the magistrate was labouring to ex- 
 tinguish. 
 
 Fortunately perhaps for both, and possi- 
 bly for all the parties concerned, arguments 
 W'ere now at hand more efficacious than 
 those of either. At this moment a tram- 
 pling of horses was heard ; words of com- 
 mand could be distinguished in miHtary 
 language; and amidst a general cry of 
 " The red coats ! the red coats !" a squadron 
 of dragoons was seen advancing rapidly 
 along the street. The mob gave way im- 
 mediately, and retired into the houses and 
 side alleys. Just as the dragoons came up, 
 a bold fellow had knocked the wounded 
 constable backwards, and was in the act of 
 seizing firm hold of Bertram, — when the 
 commanding officer rode up and with the 
 flat of his sabre struck him so violently 
 over the head and shoulders that he rolled 
 into the mud, but retained however presence 
 
WALLADMOR. 89 
 
 of mind enough to retire within a party of 
 his friends. 
 
 In a few minutes the officer had suc- 
 ceeded in restoring order : he now took the 
 prisoner from the carriage and mounted 
 him behind a dragoon. His hands, which 
 had been hitherto tied behind him, were 
 for a moment unfettered — passed round the 
 dragoon's body — and then again confined 
 by cords. These arrangements made, — 
 the whole cavalcade accompanied by two 
 constables drew off at a rapid pace to the 
 city gates. Under this third variety in the 
 style of his escort, Bertram began to expe- 
 rience great fatigue and suffering. With- 
 out any halt, or a w^ord speaking, the caval- 
 ry proceeded at a long trot for two hours 
 along a well-beaten road. On reaching a 
 WTetched ale-house, however, necessity 
 obliged them to make a short halt and to 
 take such refreshments as tlie p-ace afforded. 
 To the compassion of a dragoon Bertram 
 w^as here indebted for a dram ; and he was 
 
90 WALLADMOR. 
 
 allowed to stretch himself at length on the 
 floor of the house and to take a little sleep. 
 From this however he w^as soon roused by 
 the gingling of spurs ; roughly shaken \\\i ; 
 and mounted again in the former fashion 
 behind the dragoon. It was now dark ; a 
 night-storm was beginning to rise ; and it 
 appeared to t]ie prisoner as though the 
 road were approaching the coast. The air 
 grew colder and colder, the wind more 
 piercing, and Bertram — Vvhose situation 
 made all change of posture impossible — felt 
 as though he could not long hold out 
 against the benumbing rigour of the frost. 
 So much was his firmness subdued, that he 
 could not forbear expressing his suffering 
 by inarticulate moans. The dragoon, who 
 rode before him, was touched with compas- 
 sion and gave him a draught from his rum 
 flask. The strength, given by spirituous 
 liquors to a person under the action of frost, 
 is notoriously but momentary and leaves the 
 sufferer exposed to an immediate and more 
 
WALLADMOR. 91 
 
 dangerous reaction of the frost. This 
 effect Bertram experienced : a pleasant sen- 
 sation began to steal over him ; one limb 
 began to stiffen after another ; and his vital 
 powers had no longer energy enough to re- 
 sist the seductive approaches of sleep. At 
 this moment an accident saved him. The 
 whole troop pulled up abruptly ; and at 
 the same instant a piercing cry for help, 
 and a violent trampling of horses' hoofs, 
 roused Bertram from his stupefaction. 
 
 The accident was this : a trooper had 
 diverged from the line of road, and was in 
 the act of driving his horse over a pre- 
 cipice v;hich overhung the sea-coast just at 
 the very moment when his error was be- 
 trayed to him by the moving lights below. 
 The horse however clung by his fore-feet, 
 wiiich had fortunately been rough-shod, 
 to a tablet of slanting rock glazed over with 
 an enamel of ice ; and his comrades came 
 up in time to save both the trooper and his 
 horse. ^Meantime the harsh and sudden 
 
92 WALLADMOR. 
 
 shock of this ahrupt halt, together uith the 
 appalliug character of the incident which 
 led to it, had roused Bertram ; and 
 he was still further roused hy the joy- 
 ful prospect of a near termination to his 
 journey as well as by the remarkable fea- 
 tures of the road on which his eyes now 
 opened from his brief slumber. 
 
 The road, as he now became aware, 
 wound upwards along the extreme edge of 
 the rocky barrier which rose abruptly from 
 the sea-coast. In the murky depths below 
 he saw nothing but lights tossing up and 
 down, gleaming at intervals, and then 
 buried in sudden darkness — the lights pro- 
 bably of vessels driving before wind and 
 weather in a heavy sea. The storm was 
 now in its strength on the sea-quarter. 
 The clouds had parted before the wind ; 
 and a pale gleam of the moon suddenly be- 
 trayed to the prisoner the spectacle of a 
 billowy sea below him, an iron barrier of 
 rocky coast, and at some distance above 
 
WALLADMOR. 93 
 
 him the gothic towers and turrets of an old 
 castle running out as it were over the sea 
 itself upon one of the hold prominences of 
 the cliffs. The sliarp lines of this aerial 
 pile of huilding were strongly relieved upon 
 the sky which now hcgan to he overspread 
 with moonlight. To this castle their route 
 was ohviously directed. But danger still 
 threatened them : the road was narrow and 
 steep ; the wind blustered ; and gusty 
 squalls at intervals threatened to upset both 
 horse and rider into the abyss. However 
 the well-trained horses overcame all diffi- 
 culties ; at length the head of the troop 
 reached the castle ; and the foremost dra- 
 goon seizing a vast iron knocker struck the 
 steel-plated gate so powerfully, that the 
 echo on a more quiet night would have 
 startled all the deer in the adjacent park 
 for two miles round. 
 
AVAM.ADMOU. 95 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Coaler. Vou shall not now be stolen ; you have locks upon 
 
 you : 
 5o graze as you tiiul pasture — CijmhcUnc. Act. \. 
 
 During the two or three mmutes that 
 the cavah-y and their prisoner were waiting 
 for an answer to the summons, — Bertram, 
 who was relapsing at every instant into a 
 dozy shmiber and then as suddenly starting 
 awake (probably in conse(|uence of the 
 abrupt stillness succeeding to the severe 
 motion of a high-trotting horse), was sud- 
 denly awakened by the noise and stir of 
 admission into the castle, which unfolded a 
 succession of circumstances as grand and 
 impressive as if they had been arranged by 
 some great artist of scenical effect. From 
 
96 WALLADMOH. 
 
 one of the towers which flanked the gates, 
 a question was put and immediately an- 
 swered by the foremost trooper : question 
 and answer however were alike lost to Ber- 
 tram and dispersed upon the stormy ravings 
 of the wind. Soon after was heard the 
 clank of bars and the creaking of the gates, 
 — gates 
 
 That were plated with iron within and without 
 "WTience an army in battle array had march 'd out.* 
 
 They were like the gates of a cathedral, 
 and they began slowly to swing backward 
 on their hinges. As they opened, the 
 dimensions and outlines of their huge 
 valves were defined by the light within ; 
 and, when they were fully open, a beau- 
 tiful spectacle was exposed of a crowd of 
 faces with flambeaus intermingled fluc- 
 tuating on the further side of the court. 
 The gateway and the main area of the court 
 were now cleared for the entrance of the 
 cavalry ; and the great extent of the court 
 
 * Christabelle. 
 
WALLADMOR. 97 
 
 was expressed by the remote distance at 
 whicli the crowd seemed to stand. Then 
 came the entrance of the dragoons, which 
 was a superb expression of animal power. 
 The ground continued to ascend even 
 through the gateway and into the very 
 court itself; and to the surprise of Beitram 
 who had never until this day seen the mag- 
 nificent cavalry of the English army, the 
 leading trooper reined up tightly, and 
 spurred his horse, who started off with the 
 bounding ramp of a leopard through the 
 archway. Bertram's horse was the sixtieth 
 in the file ; and, as the com'se of the road 
 between him and the gates lay in a bold 
 curve, he had the pleasure of watching this 
 movement as it spread like a train of gun- 
 powder, or like a race of sun -beams over a 
 corn-field through the whole line a-head of 
 him : it neared and neared : in a moment 
 he himself was carried away and absorbed 
 into the vortex : the whole train swept like 
 a hurricane through the gloomy gateway 
 
 VOL. II. H 
 
98 WALI ADMOE. 
 
 into the spacious court flashing with un- 
 steady lights, wheeled round with beautiful 
 precision into line, halted, and dressed. 
 
 What followed passed as in a dream to 
 Bertram : for he was by this time seriously 
 ill ; and would have fallen off horseback, if 
 unsupported. The lights, the tumult, and 
 his previous exhaustion, all contributed to 
 confuse him : and, like one who rises from 
 his bed in the delirium of a fever, he saw 
 nothing but a turbulent vision of torches, 
 men, horses' heads, glittering arms ; win- 
 dows that reverberated the uncertain gleams 
 of the torches ; and overhead an army of 
 clouds driving before the wind ; and here 
 and there a pencil of moonlight that played 
 upon the upper windows of an antique 
 castle with a tremulous and dreamy light. 
 To his bewildered senses the objects of 
 sight were all blended and the sounds all 
 dead and muffled : he distinguished faintly 
 the voice of an officer giving the word of 
 command : he heard as if from some great 
 
WALLADMOR. 99 
 
 distance the word — " Dismount :" he felt 
 himself lifted off horseback ; and then he 
 lost all consciousness of what passed until 
 he found himself sitting in the arms of a 
 soldier, and an old man in livery adminis- 
 tering a cordial. On looking round, he 
 perceived many others in the same dress, 
 which he recognised as the Walladmor 
 livery ; and he now became aware that he 
 was in Walladmor Castle. 
 
 "Is the Lord Lieutenant at home. Max- 
 well?" said the officer, addressing the old 
 man who bore the office of warden in the 
 castle. 
 
 " No, Sir Charles : he dines at Vaughan 
 house — about twenty miles off. But he 
 will return by midnight. And he left 
 orders that the prisoner should be confined 
 in the Falcon's tower." 
 
 Bertram here stood up, and signified that 
 he was able to walk : upon which Sir 
 Charles Davenant, the officer who had com- 
 manded the party of dragoons, directed the 
 H 2 
 
100 WALLADMOR. 
 
 two constables to go before the prisoner 
 and two dragoons behind — whilst the old 
 warden showed the way. 
 
 Raising his head as they crossed the 
 extensive court, Bertram saw amongst tlie 
 vast range of windows three or four which 
 were open and crowded by female heads as 
 he inferred from the number of white caps. 
 Under other circumstances he would have 
 been apt to smile at such a spectacle as 
 a pleasant expression of female curiosity : 
 but at present, when he was taking his 
 leave of social happiness — for how long a 
 time his ignorance of the English laws 
 would not allow him to guess, the sight 
 was felt rather as a pathetic memento of 
 the household charities under their tender- 
 est aspect — and as suggesting the gentle- 
 ness of female hands in painful contrast to 
 the stern deportment of the agents of police 
 and martial power by whom he was now 
 surrounded. " Let all cynical womcn- 
 hateis," thouglit he, " be reduced for a 
 
 ^^ 
 
WALLADMOR. 101 
 
 month or two to my situation — and they 
 will learn the blessed influences on human 
 happiness of what they idly affect to 
 despise." His own indiscretion however, 
 as he coidd not disguise from himself, had 
 reduced him to this situation : and however 
 disturbed at the prospect before him he 
 submitted with an air of cheerfulness and 
 followed his guides with as firm a step as 
 his bodily weakness woidd allow. Passing 
 from the great court, at one comer, through 
 a long and winding gateway feebly illumi- 
 nated by two lanthoms, they found them- 
 selves at the edge of a deep abyss. It was 
 apparently a chasm in the rock that had 
 been turned to account by the original 
 founder of the castle, as a natural and 
 impassable moat ; far beyond it rose a lofty 
 wall pierced with loop-holes and belted with 
 towers - that necessarily overlooked and 
 commanded the whole outer works through 
 which they had passed. At a signal from 
 the old man a draw-bridge was dropped 
 
102 WAH.ADMOK. 
 
 with a jarring sound over the chasm. Cross- 
 ing this they entered a small court — sur- 
 rounded by a large but shapeless pile of 
 buildings, which gave little sign externally 
 of much intercourse with the living world : 
 here and there however from its small and 
 lofty windows, sunk in the massy stone- 
 work, a dull light was seen to twinkle; 
 and, as far as the lanthorn would allow him 
 to see, Bertram observed every where the 
 marks of hoary antiquity. At this point 
 the officer quitted them, having first given 
 his orders to the two dragoons in an under 
 voice. 
 
 The termination of their course was not 
 yet reached. At the further end of the 
 court, the old warden opened a little gate ; 
 through this, and by a narrow arched pas^ 
 sage which the dragoons could only pass by 
 stooping, they reached at length a kind of 
 guard-room which tlnough two lioles pierced 
 in the wall received some light — at this 
 time but feebly dispensed by the moon. 
 
WALLADMOR. 103 
 
 This room, it was clear, lay near to the 
 sea-shore ; for the wind without seemed as 
 if it would tear up the very foundations of 
 the walls. The old man searched anxiously 
 in his bundle of keys, and at length ap- 
 plied an old rusty key to the door-lock. 
 Not without visible signs of anxiety he 
 then proceeded to unlatch the door. But 
 scarce had he half j)erformed his work, when 
 the storm spared him the other half by 
 driving in the door and stretching him at 
 his length upon the floor. 
 
 Below them at an immense depth lay 
 the raging sea — luridly illuminated by the 
 moon which looked out from the storm-rent 
 cloiuls. The surf sent upwards a deaf- 
 ening roar, although the raving of the wind 
 seemed to struggle for the upper hand. 
 This aerial gate led to a little cell which 
 might not unjustly have been named the 
 house of death. From the rocky wall, upon 
 which the guard-room stood, ran out at 
 right angles into the sea a curtain of granite 
 —so narrow that its utmost breadth hardly 
 
104 AVALLADMOK. 
 
 amounted to five feet, and resembling an 
 artificial terrace or corridor that had been 
 thrown by the bold architect across the aw- 
 ful abyss to a mighty pile of rock that 
 rose like a column from the very middle of 
 the waves. About a hundred feet from the 
 shore this gallery terminated in a circular 
 tower, which — if the connecting terrace had 
 fallen in — would have looked like the work 
 of a magician. This small corridor ap- 
 peared the more dreadful, because the rag- 
 ing element below had long since forced a 
 passage beneath it ; and, the breach being 
 continually widened by the equinoctial 
 storms, it was at length so far undennined 
 that it seemed to hang like an archway in 
 the air ; and the narrow causeway might 
 now with some propriety be termed a sea- 
 bridge. 
 
 Bertram here recognized that part of 
 Walladmor Castle which he had seen from 
 the deck of the Fleurs de Lys,^ 
 
 * Sec p. 80-1 ot vol. i. 
 
AVALLADMOK. 105 
 
 The rude dragoons even looked out with 
 awe upon the dreadful spectacle which lay 
 before and below. One of them stepped 
 with folded arms to the door-way, looked 
 out in silence, and shaking his head said — 
 " So thafs the cage our bird must be car- 
 ried to ? " 
 
 " Aye," said the old man, (who had now 
 raised himself from the floor ;) " desperate 
 offenders are always lodged there." 
 
 " By G — /' rephed the dragoon, " at 
 Vittoria I rode down the whole line of a 
 French battahon that was firing by pla- 
 toons : there's not a straw to choose between 
 such service as that and crossing a d — d 
 bridge in the clouds through a gale of wind 
 like this. A man must have the devil's 
 luck and his own to get safe over." 
 
 " What the h—U ! " said the other dra- 
 goon, — " this fellow is to be killed at any 
 rate ; so he's out of the risk : but must wt 
 run the hazard of our lives for a fellow like 
 him ? I'm as bold as another when I see 
 
106 WALLADMOR. 
 
 reason : but I'll have some hire, I'll have 
 value down, if I am to stand this risk." 
 
 " It's impossible," cried the first consta- 
 ble — " no man can stand up against the 
 wind on such a devil's gallery : what the 
 devil ? it has no balustrade." 
 
 " Shall we pitch the fellow down below?" 
 said the second constable. 
 
 " I have nothing to say against it," re- 
 plied one of the dragoons. 
 
 " Nor I," said the other, " but then mind 
 — we must tell no tales." 
 
 " Oh ! as to that/' replied the first con- 
 stable, " we shall say the wind carried him 
 out of our hands ; and I suppose there's no 
 cock will crow against us when the job's 
 done." 
 
 " And besides it is no sin," observed the 
 second; " for hang he must ; that's settled ; 
 such a villain as him can do no less. 80, 
 as matters stand, I don't see but it will be 
 doing him a good turn to toss him into the 
 water." 
 
WALLADMOR. 107 
 
 Unanimous as they were in the plan, 
 they differed about the execution ; none 
 choosing to lay hands on the prisoner first. 
 And very seasonably a zealous friend to 
 Bertram stepped forward in the person of 
 the warden. He protested that, as the pri- 
 soner was confided to his care, he must and 
 would inform against them unless they flung 
 him down also. Under this dilemma, they 
 chose rather to face again the perils of Vit- 
 toria. Ropes were procured, passed round 
 the bodies of all the men, and then se- 
 cured to the door-posts. That done, the 
 constables stepped out first, the old man in 
 the centre, and after them the two dra- 
 goons taking the prisoner firmly under their 
 arms. The blasts of wind were terrifically 
 violent ; and Bertram, as he looked down 
 upon the sea which raged on both sides 
 below him, felt himself giddy; but the 
 dragoons dragged him across. The old 
 man had already opened the tower, and 
 Bertram heard chains rattling. They led 
 
108 WALLADMOR, 
 
 him cIo\m several steps, cut the ropes in 
 two which confined him, but in their stead 
 put heavy and rusty fetters about his feet 
 and swollen hands. The five agents of 
 police then remounted the steps ; the door 
 was shut : and the sound of bolts, locks, 
 and chains, announced to the prisoner that 
 he was left to his own solitary thoughts. 
 
WALLADMOR. 109 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Anton. You do mistake me, Sir. 
 
 Of. No, Sir, no jot: I know your favor well. 
 Though now you have no sea-cap on your head : 
 Take him away ; he knows I know him well. 
 
 Twelfth Night— Act 3. 
 
 Apprehended as a great state-criminal, 
 Bertram had been committed to the safe- 
 keeping of Walladmor Castle as the only 
 place in the county strong enough to resist 
 the attempts for his deliverance which were 
 anticipated from the numerous smugglers 
 on the coast.' — As regarded his personal 
 comfort however, and putting out of view 
 the chances of any such violent liberation, 
 this arrangement was one on which a pri- 
 soner had reason to congratulate himself. 
 For Sir Morgan Walladmor would not 
 allow that any person within his gates 
 should be inhospitably treated : and, with 
 
110 VVALI.ADMOR. 
 
 the exception of his shackles, Bertram now 
 found liimself more comfortably lodged in 
 his prison than he had been for some time 
 before. He flung himself into bed, and 
 was soon asleep. But the fury of the wind 
 about this exposed rock, and the fury of the 
 sea at its base, — with his own agitation of 
 mind and body, — frequently awoke him. As 
 often he fell asleep again ; and continually 
 dreamed of the fields of Germany and the 
 friends whom he had left there. Sometimes 
 he was betrayed into imminent peril — some- 
 times into battle — sometimes into flight: 
 now he saw hands stretched forth from thick 
 vapours to help him ; and again he saw 
 the countenances of familiar friends turned 
 upon him mth altered looks and glaring with 
 mysterious revenge. Then came running 
 from the depth of forests a dear companion 
 of his youth with a coronet of flowers who 
 smiled as in former times : but suddenly he 
 shook his head and vanished. The forests 
 also vanished ; and the flowers perished : 
 
WAl.T.ADiMOn, 111 
 
 and he found himself on board the Flenrs- 
 de-lys, with Captain le Harnois by his 
 side, fleeting over endless seas — and seek- 
 ing in vain for an anchor. He was on 
 board the ship, and yet was not; but 
 saw it from a distance : and in this per- 
 plexity the Fleurs-de-lys changed into a 
 judgment-seat; and an orator was before 
 it — pleading in some unknown tongue 
 against himself, and bringing to light many 
 a secret crime that had lain buried under a 
 weight of years 
 
 Confusion, struggle, shame, and woe : 
 Things to be hid that were not hid ; 
 Which all confus'd he could not know 
 Whether he suffer'd or he did : * 
 
 and when the judgment seat began to speak, 
 he died away with fear and — suddenly 
 awoke. 
 
 But a voice now reached him that was 
 no voice of judgment or dismay ; the tones 
 were low and sweet; and they spoke as 
 
 * Coleridge, from imperfect recollection. 
 
112 WALLADMOR. 
 
 woman speaks when she comes to comfort. 
 "Edward, dear Edward!" he heard dis- 
 tinctly uttered at a few yards from his bed 
 side. The storm was laid ; the ^vind was 
 hushed ; the sea had ceased to rave : it was 
 two o'clock in the morning ; and every mo- 
 tion was audible. Recollecting the ada- 
 mantine strength of his prison, Bertram 
 felt his German superstitions stealing over 
 him ; but again he heard the voice ; and, 
 opening his eyes, he saw a dull light in 
 the room. Instantly he raised his head ; 
 and he beheld the figure of a young woman 
 standing by a little table. She was muf- 
 fled up in the rich furs of the sea-otter; 
 and the small lamp which she held in her 
 hand streamed upwards a feeble gleam upon 
 her countenance, sufficient however to dis- 
 cover the superb beauty and touching ex- 
 pression which had drawn all eyes upon St. 
 David's day. It was indeed Miss Wallad- 
 mor : and at her elbow, but retiring half 
 a step behind her, stood a young person 
 
WALLADMOR. 113 
 
 who was apparently her maid. " Dear Ed- 
 ward !" she began again, " listen to me. 
 I dare not stay now : if I were seen, all 
 would be discovered : but I will write an 
 answer to your letter addressed to Paris. 
 Meantime, I will find some friend that 
 shall put the means of escape in your way ; 
 I hope to-morrow in the dusk of the even- 
 ing. Oh ! Edward, do not — do not let it 
 pass by: for every body here is your 
 enemy:" and saying this she burst into 
 tears. " Go on board a ship immediately. 
 And here is money, Edward : and here 
 is my watch, that you may know how the 
 hours go. It is now two o'clock. Promise 
 me that you will escape : better times may 
 come : promise me, dear Edward." 
 
 Before Bertram could reply however, a 
 hasty clank was heard at one of the bars : 
 this, it appeared, was a signal understood 
 by Miss Walladmor : she started and trem- 
 bled ; and exclaimed — " Farewell, Ed- 
 ward ! Remember ! ■ " Something she 
 
 VOL. II. I 
 
114 WALLADMOR. 
 
 would have added ; but the door opened 
 a little, and a voice impatiently called 
 " Miss Walladmor ! Miss Walladmor ! " 
 and in the next moment she and her at- 
 tendant had glided inaudibly from the 
 room, and the door was again barred out- 
 side with as little noise as possible. As it 
 opened however, Bertram caught a glimpse 
 of the person stationed outside, who ap- 
 peared to be a young boy of seventeen ; 
 he was wrapped up in a cloak, but under- 
 neath it Bertram perceived the dragoon 
 uniform. That Miss Walladmor's visit 
 had been intended for Edward Nicholas he 
 was sufficiently aware : and, feeling at once 
 that he could have no right to use to the 
 prejudice of either a knowledge which he 
 had gained in this way, he took care as soon 
 as the light came to secrete from the sight of 
 his jailors the watch and the other articles 
 left on the table : which appeared to be 
 chiefly letters of credit on Paris to a large 
 amount obtained from the Dolgelly Bank. 
 
WALLADMOR. 115 
 
 Pretty early in the morning one of the 
 Walladmor servants, attended by a soldier, 
 brought breakfast into his cell ; and soon 
 after desired him to follow them. By a 
 great circuit, and partly over the same 
 ground as he had traversed the night before, 
 they conducted him into a large library, at 
 one end of which sate four magistrates for 
 the county, before whom he was placed; . 
 Sir Morgan Walladmor and Sir Charles.. 
 Davenant were also present ; but they sate 
 at a distance, and took no part in the exa- 
 mination ; though they surveyed the pri- 
 soner from time to time with great apparent 
 interest ; and the latter, who was writing, 
 occasionally laid down his pen to attend to 
 the prisoner's answers. 
 
 " What is your name ? " 
 
 " Edmund Bertram." 
 
 ^' Whence do you come ? " 
 
 " From Germany." 
 
 " Where is your home ? ** 
 i2 
 
116 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " So far as I can be said to have one, in 
 
 Germany." 
 
 " And you were educated in Germany ? " 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 " And yet speak English Uke a native ? " 
 
 " I was bred up in an Enghsh family 
 resident in North Germany." 
 
 " What was your object in coming to 
 England ? " 
 
 " Upon that point you must pardon me : 
 I do not feel myself called upon, simply fpr 
 the purpose of clearing myself from un- 
 founded charges, to make disclosures of that 
 nature." 
 
 " How do you know that the charges 
 against you are unfounded ? You have not 
 yet heard them^." 
 
 " Without pretending to any accurate 
 knowledge of the English laws, I am sure 
 that I cannot have transgressed the laws of 
 any country during my short residence in 
 Wales." 
 
WALLADMOR. 117 
 
 " Were you at the attack of the revenue 
 officers near the chapel of Utragan ? " 
 
 " I was ; hut simply as a spectator : I 
 neither understood the ohject of that attack, 
 nor took any part in it." 
 
 " By what ship did you come to Eng- 
 land?" 
 
 " By the steam-packet Halcyon ? " 
 
 " And you were on board the Halcyon 
 when she blew up ? " 
 
 " I was knocked overboard the moment 
 before, and in that manner I escaped." 
 
 " And what became of you ? " 
 
 " I was drifted by the waves towards the 
 Isle of Anglesea : a few miles to the south- 
 ward of Holyhead I was picked up by I 
 know not whom. Afterwards I obtained a 
 passage to the main land." 
 
 *' And took up your abode-— where?" 
 
 " At the inn in Machynleth." 
 
 " Where was it that you were first 
 apprehended ? " 
 
 " At an abbey, I forget the name, 
 
118 WALLADMOK. 
 
 amongst the Merionethshire mountains : no^ 
 upon recollection, amongst the Carnarvon- 
 shire mountains." 
 
 " What led you thither ? " 
 
 " I was advised by an acquaintance to 
 visit it." 
 
 " For what purpose ? " 
 
 " Simply as an interesting relic of anti- 
 quity, and as a very picturesque building." 
 
 Here the magistrates looked at each other 
 and smiled. 
 
 " What sort of night was that on which 
 you visited this aWbey ? " 
 
 " A very severe and inclement night." 
 
 " And on such a night you were engaged 
 in studying the picturesque?" 
 
 The prisoner was silentc 
 
 " You stated that you were apprehended 
 at this abbey : who were the persons that 
 delivered you ? " 
 
 " I do not know." 
 
 " Upon what motives did the pers^ons 
 act who rescued you ? " 
 
WALLADMOR. 119 
 
 " So far as I know, upon motives of 
 gratitude : one of them had received a 
 service from myself" 
 
 " Do you know any thing of Captain 
 Edward Nicholas, or Captain Nicolao, as 
 he is sometimes called ? " 
 
 The Prisoner replied — " No : " but at 
 the same time he coloured. Feeling that 
 his confusion would weigh much against 
 himself, Bertram now endeavoured to dis- 
 perse it by assuming the stern air of an 
 injured person, and demanded to know 
 upon what grounds he was detained in 
 custody, or subjected to these humiliating 
 examinations. One of the magistrates rose, 
 and addressed him with some solemnity: 
 
 " Captain Nicholas, we cannot doubt 
 about the person we have before us. Judge 
 for yourself when I read to you the in- 
 formation we have received, much of which 
 has been now confirmed by yourself 
 Edward Nicholas, charged with various 
 offences against the laws, is on the point 
 
120 WALLADMOR. 
 
 of leaving the Isle of Wight for France : 
 he is apprehended ; put on board the Hal- 
 cyon steam-packet ; the Halcyon blows up ; 
 nearly all on board perish : but Nicholas 
 is known to have escaped. He is seen by 
 several in the company of a Dutchman 
 called Vander Velsen : to assist that person 
 and Captain le Harnois alias Jackson of the 
 Fleurs-de-lys in a smuggling transaction, 
 but for what purpose of self interest is not 
 known, he plays off a deception on the lord 
 lieutenant, and conducts a mock funeral to 
 the chapel of Utragan. A skirmish takes 
 place on the road between the revenue 
 officers and the mourners suborned by le 
 Harnois and Nicholas. You have acknow- 
 ledged that you were present at that skir- 
 mish ; and we have witnesses who can prove 
 that you were both present and armed with 
 a cudgel of unusual dimensions : in fact," 
 said the magistrate by way of parenthesis, 
 " of monstrous dimensions : " (here the 
 prisoner could not forbear smiling, which 
 
VVALLADMOR. 1211 
 
 did him no service with the magistrate; 
 who went on to aggravate the enonnity of 
 the cudgel;) — " a cudgel in fact, such 
 as no man carries, no man ever did carry, 
 no man ever will carry with peaceable 
 intentions. Nicholas is known to have gone 
 on from Utragan to Ap Gauvon : you 
 admit that you were there, and without any 
 adequate motive : for as to the picturesque 
 and all that, on a night such as the last, it 
 is really unworthy of you to allege any 
 thing so idle. At Ap Gauvon you are ap- 
 prehended and immediately rescued. You 
 steal away into the barn of a peasant, and 
 kill the dog to prevent detection from his 
 barking. Your footsteps however are 
 tracked : you are again apprehended on the 
 following morning : and again an attempt 
 is made to rescue you : and a riot absolutely 
 raised in your behalf. And finally, when 
 it became known last night that you were 
 conveyed to Walladmor, a smuggling vessel 
 I. was observed to stand in close to the shore 
 
122 WALLADMOR. 
 
 — making signals for upwards of five hoins 
 which no doubt were directed to you. 
 The chain of circumstantial evidence is 
 complete." 
 
 Bertram was silent: he coidd not but 
 acknowledge to himself that the presump- 
 tions were strong against him. Omitting 
 the accidental coincidences between his own 
 movements and those of Nicholas, whence 
 had he — a perfect stranger by his own ac- 
 count — drawn the zealous assistance which 
 he had received ? By what means could he 
 have obtained such earnest and continued 
 support ? — ^He would have suggested to the 
 magistrate that the same mistake about 
 his person, which had led to his apprehen- 
 sion, was in fact the main cause (combined 
 with the general dislike to Alderman 
 Gravesand) of the second mistake under 
 which the mob had acted in attempting his 
 rescue. But dejection at the mass of pre- 
 sumptions arrayed against himself, even 
 
WALLADMOR. 123 
 
 apart from his own unfortunate resem- 
 blance to the real object of those presump- 
 tions, self-reproach on account of his own 
 indiscretion, and pain of mind at the pros- 
 pect of the troubles which awaited him in 
 a country where he was friendless, suddenly 
 came over him ; and the words died away 
 upon his lips. The magistrates watched 
 him keenly ; and, interpreting these indica- 
 tions of confusion and faultering courage 
 in the way least favourable to the prisoner, 
 they earnestly exhorted him to make a full 
 confession as the only chance now left him 
 for meriting any favour with government. 
 
 This appeal had the effect of recalling 
 the prisoner to his full self-possession, and 
 he briefly protested his innocence with firm- 
 ness and some indignation ; adding that he 
 was the victim of an unfortunate resem- 
 blance to the person who was the real 
 object of search ; but that, unless the magis- 
 trates could take upon them to affirm as 
 
124} WALLADMOR. 
 
 of their own knowledge that this resem- 
 blance was much stronger than he had 
 reason to believe it was, they were not enti- 
 tled so confidently to prejudge his case and 
 to take his guilt for established. 
 
 All present had seen Captain Nicholas, 
 but not often, nor for the last two years. 
 One of the magistrates how^ever, who had 
 seen him more frequently than the others 
 and had repeatedly conversed with him, 
 declared himself entirely satisfied of the 
 prisoner's identity with that person : it was 
 not a case, he was persuaded, which could 
 be shaken by any counter-evidence. Upon 
 this they all rose : assured the prisoner that 
 he should have the attendance of a clergy- 
 man; conjured him not to disregard the 
 spiritual assistance which would now be 
 put in his way : and then, upon the same 
 grounds as had originally dictated the selec- 
 tion of Bertram's prison — distrust of so 
 weak a prison as that at Dolgelly against 
 
WALLADMOR. 125 
 
 the stratagems and activity of Captain 
 Nicholas within and the violence of his 
 friends without — they finally recommitted 
 liim to the Falcon's tower. 
 
 At the suggestion of Sir Morgan Wallad- 
 mor however, who had taken no part in 
 the examination, but apparently took the 
 liveliest interest in the whole of what 
 passed, the prisoner was freed from his 
 irons — as unnecessary in a prison of such im- 
 pregnable strength, and unjust before the 
 full establishment of his guilt. This act 
 of considerate attention to his personal ease 
 together with a pile of books * sent by the 
 worthy baronet, restored Bertram to some 
 degree of spirits : and such were the lux- 
 urious accommodations granted him in all 
 other respects, compared with any which he 
 had recently had, that — but for the loss of 
 
 * Amongst which we are happy to say (on the authority of a 
 Welch friend) was the first volume of Walladmor, a novel, in 
 2 vols, post 8vo. ; the second being not then finished. 
 
126 WALLADMOR. 
 
 his liberty and the prospect of the troubles 
 which awaited him — Bertram would have 
 found himself tolerably happy, though 
 tenanting that ancient and aerial mansion 
 which was known to mariners and to all on 
 shore for at least six counties round by the 
 appellation of " the house of death." 
 
WALLADMOK. 127 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Aumcrle — Give me leave that I may turn the key, 
 That no man enter till my tale be done. 
 BoUng. Have thy desire. 
 York (xvithout). JMy liege, beware : look to thyself: 
 
 Thou hast a traitor in thy presence there. 
 Aiim. Stay thy revengeful hand ; 
 
 Thou hast no cause to fear. — Richard II. Act. V. 
 
 Meantime Miss Walladmor exerted 
 herself as earnestly for the secret liberation 
 of the prisoner as due regard to conceal- 
 ment would allow. Her first application 
 was made to Sir Charles Davenant : much 
 would depend, as she was well aware, on 
 the dispositions of that officer towards Cap- 
 tain Nicholas ; and in the present case 
 circumstances well known to both forbade 
 her relying with too much hope upon the 
 natural generosity of his disposition. Some- 
 thing however must be risked; and she 
 wrote a note to him requesting that he 
 would meet her in the library. 
 
 Sir Charles probably anticipated the 
 subject of Miss Walladmor's communica- 
 
128 WALLADMOR. 
 
 tion : for, though he hastened to know her 
 commands, the expression of his coun- 
 tenance showed none of that alacrity which 
 might naturally have been looked for in a 
 military man not much beyond thirty on 
 receiving a summons to a private interview 
 vnth. the beautiful heiress of Walladmor. 
 
 On entering the room he bowed, but 
 without his usual freedom of manner ; and 
 something like an air of chagrin w^as visible, 
 as he begged to know upon what subject 
 he had been fortunate enough to be honored 
 with IMiss Walladmor's commands. He 
 spoke with extreme gravity ; and Miss 
 Walladmor looked up to him in vain for 
 any -signs of encouragement. She trembled : 
 but not, as it seemed, from any feminine 
 embarrassments: grief and anxiety had 
 quelled all lighter agitations ; and she 
 trembled only with the anguish of sus- 
 pense. 
 
 " Sir Charles," she said at length, " there 
 was a time when you would not have 
 
WALLADMOR. 129 
 
 refused me any request which it was in 
 your power to grant." 
 
 " Nor would now, ]\Iiss Walladmor : my 
 life should be at your service, if that would 
 
 promote your happiness ; any thing but 
 
 my honor." 
 
 " I am to understand then that you 
 think your honor concerned in refusing 
 what I was going to have asked you : for I 
 perceive that you apprehend what it was." 
 
 " I will not affect, Miss Walladmor, to 
 misapprehend what it is you wish : the pri- 
 soner is committed to the soldiers under my 
 command ; and you wish me to favor his 
 escape." 
 
 Miss Walladmor bowed her assent. 
 
 " But, my dear Miss Walladmor, this is 
 quite impossible : believe me, it is : even if 
 my duty as a mihtary man did not forbid 
 me to engage in such an act, which in me 
 would be held criminal in the highest 
 degree, I fear that it would be wholly 
 thrown away : for this person, the prisoner 
 
 VOL. II. K 
 
130 WALLADMOR. 
 
 I mean, is perfectly mad. I beg youi* 
 pardon, Miss Walladmor : I did not mean 
 to distress you : but what I meant to say 
 was — that, if he were liberated, actuated by 
 such views as appear to govern him at 
 present, I fear that he would linger in this 
 neighbourhood: he would inevitably be 
 recaptured : and I should have violated my 
 duty as a soldier without at all forwarding 
 your wishes." 
 
 Perceiving that Miss Walladmor looked 
 perplexed and agitated, and incapable of 
 speaking. Sir Charles went on : 
 
 " ]\Iuch of his later conduct may not 
 have reached your ears : many acts attri- 
 buted to him——" 
 
 " Sir Charles," interrupted Miss Wallad- 
 mor, bursting into tears, " you know well 
 that those, who have once lost their footing 
 in the world's favor, and are become unfor- 
 tunate, meet with but little tenderness or 
 justice in the constructions or reports of 
 any thing they may do. Every hand, it 
 
WAIJ.ADMOR. 131 
 
 seems to me, is raised against a falling man. 
 But, let the mihappy prisoner have done 
 what he may, you have yourself suggested 
 an apology for him : and you distress me 
 far less when you advert to it, than when 
 you appear to forget it." 
 
 " I do not forget it, Miss Walladmor : 
 believe me, I do not : neither will it be for- 
 gotten in a court of justice. So much the 
 less can it be necessary that in such a cause 
 you should put any thing to the hazard of 
 a false interpretation amongst censorious 
 people, who are less capable of appreciating 
 your motives than myself." 
 
 " Oh, Sir Charles Davenant ! " exclaimed 
 Miss Walladmor, " do not allude to such 
 considerations : any other than myself they 
 might become ; but not me, who have been 
 indebted to him of whom we are speaking 
 three times for my own life." 
 
 The last words were almost inarticulate : 
 her voice failed her from strong emotion : 
 and she wept audibly. 
 K 2 
 
132 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Sir Charles was moved and softened : the 
 spectacle of a woman's tears — of a woman so 
 young, beautiful, and evidently unhappy, — 
 her supplicating countenance and attitude, 
 and the pleading tones of her low soft voice 
 (" an excellent thing in woman ! "), were 
 more than his gallantry could support. To 
 such a pleader he had not the heart to say 
 that she must plead in vain : he put his 
 hand to his forehead ; considered for a 
 moment or two ; and then said 
 
 " My dear Miss Walladmor, I fear I am 
 doing very wrong : what may be quite 
 right for you — may be wrong indeed in 
 me : yet I cannot resist a request of yours 
 urged so persuasively ; and I will go to the 
 utmost lengths I can in meeting your 
 wishes ; to go further might expose them 
 to the risk of discovery. Use any influence 
 you please with the soldier on guard : I will 
 place only one at the prisoner's door, and 
 will endeavour to select such a one as may 
 be most readily induced to forget his 
 
WALLADMOR. 133 
 
 duty. The centinel at the gate will not 
 challenge any person leaving the castle : he 
 is placed there only to prevent the intrusion 
 of suspicious persons from without. In 
 short proceed as you will ; and depend upon 
 my looking away from what passes — which 
 is the best kind of assistance that I can 
 give to your intentions in this case, without 
 running the risk of defeating them." 
 
 Miss Walladmor smiled through her 
 tears, and thanked him fervently : Sir 
 Charles bowed and departed. 
 
 Sir Charles Davenant was a man of 
 ancient family and of great expectations, 
 but of very small patrimonial fortune : he 
 had been a ward of Sir Morgan Wallad- 
 mor's ; between whom and the Davenants 
 there was some distant relationship : and it 
 was to the Walladmor interest, supported 
 by the Walladmor purse, that Sir Charles 
 was originally indebted for his commission 
 upon entering the army and his subsequent 
 promotion. These were circumstances whicli 
 
134 WAI>LADMOR. 
 
 could not be unknown to Miss Walladmor : 
 but she had been too dehcate and too just 
 to use them as any arguments with Sir 
 Charles upon the present occasion. So 
 much the more however was Sir Charles 
 disposed to recollect them : and he now 
 exerted himself without delay to make 
 such inquiries and arrangements as might 
 put things in train for accomplishing Miss 
 Walladmor's design ; conscious as he was 
 that every post might bring down orders 
 from government which would make any 
 such design impracticable. 
 
 Miss Walladmor, on her part, found 
 that it would be impossible to pursue this 
 design without the co-operation of her own 
 maid ; and for that purpose it was necessary 
 to admit this young person in some degree 
 to her confidence. To any woman of deli- 
 cate and deep feelings this must naturally 
 have been under ordinary circumstances a 
 painful necessity ; but the time was now 
 past for scruples of that sort: and ditfi- 
 
WALLADMOR. 135 
 
 culties, which would hav^ appeared insu- 
 perable in a situation of free choice, melted 
 away before the extremities of the present 
 case. INIoreover, apart from the pain of 
 making such disclosures at all, there was no 
 person to whom Miss Walladmor would 
 more willingly have made them than to her 
 own attendant ; for Grace Evans was an 
 amiable girl : had been bred up in super- 
 stitious reverence for the whole house of 
 Walladmor ; and with regard to JVIiss Wal- 
 ladmor in particular, who had been the 
 benefactress of her own family in all its 
 members, her attachment was so unlimited 
 that she would have regarded nothing as 
 wrong which her young mistress thought 
 right — nor have suffered any obstacles 
 whatsoever to deter her in the execution of 
 that thing which she had once understood 
 to be her mistress's pleasure. In the pre- 
 sent case however there was nothing that 
 could press heavily on her sense of duty; 
 nor any need to appeal to her affections 
 
136 WALLADMOR. 
 
 against her natural sense of propriety. On 
 the contrary both were in perfect harmony. 
 She had long known, in common with all 
 the country, the circumstances of Miss 
 Walladmor's early meetings with Edward 
 Nicholas — and the attachment which had 
 grown out of them. And it is observable 
 that to all women endowed with much 
 depth and purity of feeling, more particu- 
 larly to women in humble life who inherit 
 a sort of superstition on that subject (and 
 are besides less liable to have it shaken by 
 the vulgar ridicule of the world, and the 
 half-sneering tone with which all deep feel- 
 ings are treated in the more refined classes 
 of society) — love, but especially unfortunate 
 love, is regarded with a sanctity of interest 
 and pity such as they give to religion or to 
 the memory of the dead. In this point 
 women of the lowest rank (as a body) are 
 much more worthy of respect and admira- 
 tion than those above them, in proportion 
 to the rarity of the temptations which beset 
 
WALLADMOll. 137 
 
 them for diverting the natural course of 
 their own affections — and to the less worldly 
 tone of the society * in which they move. 
 ^Vomen however of all classes manifest a 
 purity and elevation of sentiment on this 
 subject to which the coarseness of the other 
 sex rarely ascends. 
 
 Hence it was that Miss Walladmor found 
 in her humble attendant a sympathy more 
 profound than she might possibly have met 
 with in many of her own rank. The tender 
 hearted girl had long been deeply affected 
 in secret by the spectacle of early grief and 
 unmerited calamity which had clouded the 
 youthful prospects of her mistress ; she was 
 delighted with the honor of the confidence 
 reposed in her: and she immediately set 
 her little head to work, which (to do her 
 justice) was a very woman's head for its 
 
 * Less worldly^ observe, good reader : let the immoralities of 
 such society be occasionally what they may, the affections speak a 
 far simpler and more natural language : and one remark is suffi- 
 cient to illustrate this. Love, as it is represented in comedy, is 
 absolutely unintelligible to the lower classes : in tragedy it first 
 becomes perfectly comprehensible to them. 
 
138 WALLADMOn. 
 
 fertility in plots and wiles, to consider of 
 the best means for accomplishing the deli- 
 verance of the prisoner. Political offences 
 are naturally no offences at all in the eyes 
 of women : and independently of the 
 deeper interest which she took in the pre- 
 sent case, she would at any time with hearty 
 good will have given her gratuitous assist- 
 ance to effect a general gaol delivery of all 
 prisoners whatsoever whose crimes had rela- 
 tion chiefly to the Secretaries of State for 
 the time being. 
 
 A tap at the door, which came at this 
 moment, served to abridge and to guide 
 her scheming. It was a servant with a 
 note from Sir Charles Davcnant to the fol- 
 lowing effect : 
 
 " JMy dear INIadam, 
 
 " I may possibly be under the necessity 
 
 of leaving the castle this evening for a few 
 
 days on some busines's connected with my 
 
 military duties: and for that reason, as 
 
WALLADMOR. 139 
 
 well as because it is on all accounts advise- 
 able that any attempt which is contem- 
 plated should be made without much de- 
 lay, I take the earliest opportunity of in- 
 forming you that Thomas Godber, a late ser- 
 vant on the Walladmor establishment, will 
 relieve guard at eight o'clock this night. 
 He was, I believe, recently a groom or 
 helper in the castle stables : and he enlisted 
 into one of the two troops now quartered in 
 the castle with the knowledge and appro- 
 bation of Sir Morgan. I know nothing of 
 him more than this, and that he bears the 
 character amongst his fellow troopers of a 
 goodnatured young man. But I presume 
 that, as a former servant of the family, he 
 shares in the general attachment which all 
 about her manifest for Miss Walladmor. On 
 this account I have placed him on guard in 
 the only station which is of any import- 
 ance. It will be necessary, I must add, 
 that he should go out of the way for a time 
 after the escape of the prisoner. 
 
140 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Wishing, my dear Miss Walladmor, in 
 secret that success to your enterprize on this 
 occasion — which, on all other occasions, I 
 shall be proud to wish you openly, — I re- 
 main, with the greatest regard, 
 
 " Your faithful and devoted servant, 
 
 " 5 o'clock. « CHARLES DAVENANT." 
 
 This note relieved Miss Walladmor from 
 much of her anxiety : for Thomas Godber 
 was not only deeply attached to the family, 
 having been a servant about the castle from 
 his boyish days ; but of late he had been 
 bound in a new tie of gratitude to Miss 
 Walladmor by the sanction which she had 
 given to his future marriage with Grace, to 
 whom Tom had long been a zealous suitor. 
 Grace was not less rejoiced on hearing of 
 the arrangement which Sir Charles had 
 made; and answered for Tom's services 
 with the air of one who claimed more un- 
 limited obedience from him, in the charac- 
 
WALLADMOR. 141 
 
 ter of lover, tlian his colonel or his sovereign 
 could exact of him in those of soldier and 
 subject. 
 
 It was necessary, however, in so perilous 
 a matter, that Miss Walladmor should see 
 and converse with Tom : throwing a large 
 shawl therefore about her person, and trust- 
 ing herself to the guidance of Grace, who 
 led her by passages and staircases which she 
 had never trod before, JMiss Walladmor de- 
 scended to a sort of cloisters or piazza which 
 opened by arches upon one side of the great 
 court of the castle. Here Grace introduced 
 her into a small parlour, usually occupied by 
 one of the upper female servants, who was 
 likely to be absent at this time of the even- 
 ing for some hours ; and, after she had 
 seen her mistress seated and secured from 
 intrusion, she ran off to summon Tom. 
 With him she was already disposed to be 
 somewhat displeased that he was not imme- 
 diately to be found ; and, after she had 
 found him, lectured him all the way for his 
 
142 WALLADMOR. 
 
 temerity in presuming to be absent when 
 Miss Walladmor condescended to want him. 
 Tom's intellectual faculties were not of the 
 most brilliant order : whether Tom had any 
 latent and yet undiscovered profundity which 
 qualified him for philosophic speculations, 
 we cannot say : for the honor of the male 
 sex, we heartily hope that he had some 
 bright endowment in his brain which was 
 deeply concealed from all men to balance 
 his prodigious inferiority to Grace in all 
 which was revealed. Indeed Tom had no 
 vanity on this subject : nobody could have 
 a lower opinion of his own wdt than he had 
 himself, nor a higher opinion of Grace's. 
 And on the present occasion, after once 
 hinting that he could not foresee that so 
 very rare an event as a summons to " the 
 lady's " presence would occur precisely at 
 half past five on this particidar evening, he 
 hastily withdrew that absurd argument be- 
 fore Grace's displeasure — and did not again 
 resort to so weak a line of justification ; 
 
WA1.LADMOR. 143 
 
 but took the wisest course for a man in his 
 condition of guilt by throwing himself on 
 Grace's mercy. This was prudent: for Grace 
 was always reasonable and forgiving when 
 people acknowledged their crimes : and she 
 now cheered Tom by an encouraging smile. 
 Such encouragement was quite necessary to 
 Tom at this moment; there needed no 
 frowns from Grace for a man scared out of 
 his wits already at the prospect of an in- 
 terview with Miss Walladmor; an honor 
 which he had never looked for; and he 
 could not divine what was to be the subject 
 of conversation. Which of his virtues 
 could it be that had procured him this dis- 
 tinction ? He knew of none that was likely 
 to recommend him to Miss Walladmor's 
 notice. Which of his crimes then ? These 
 were certainly easier for Tom to discover : 
 but still he saw no probability that so ex- 
 alted a person as Miss Walladmor would 
 interest herself in a poor lad's sins, the most 
 important part of which were scored at the 
 
144 WALLADMOR. 
 
 public house. Grace, to whom he applied 
 for information, told him to do whatever 
 he was bid to do ; to trouble his foolish 
 head about nothing else ; and then he was 
 sure to be right. And, so saying, she 
 opened the door and ushered him in to her 
 mistress's presence. 
 
 Miss Walladmor, with her usual kind- 
 ness, prefaced the special matter of her 
 application to Tom by making various in- 
 quiries about his mother and his own tem- 
 porary change of situation. Thus far Tom 
 was able to meet her questions with tolera- 
 ble fluency, and no more embarrassment 
 than was inseparable from the novelty of 
 his situation. But, when she proceeded to 
 question him about his knowledge of Cap- 
 tain Edward Nicholas, Tom faultered and 
 betrayed the greatest confusion. The truth 
 was that he knew him well, and was de- 
 votedly attached to his interests ; and with 
 some reason ; for the Captain had on one 
 occasion with much generosity protected 
 
WALLADMOK. 145 
 
 him at the risk of his own life from the 
 fury of a smuggling crew who were on the 
 point of shooting him for a supposed act 
 of treachery to their interests ; in which, 
 however, as was afterwards discovered, 
 Tom's mother had been the sole movei'. 
 In spite however of this and other reasons 
 for deep gratitude to Captain Nicholas, it 
 so frequently happened that the manifesta- 
 tion of this gratitude laid him under the 
 necessity of violating his duties as a servant 
 of Sir Morgan Walladmor, that he lived 
 in perpetual fear of exposure ; and never 
 heard the name of Edward Nicholas with- 
 out some twinges of conscience, and evident 
 signs of embarrassment. It had recently 
 become more dangerous than ever to be 
 suspected of any connexion with the Cap- 
 tain ; and hence it was that the standing 
 fear, which weighed upon Tom's mind, at 
 this moment banished from his recollection 
 that JMiss Walladmor was not the person 
 (as all the country knew) to scan his con- 
 
 VOL. II. L 
 
146 WALLADMOR. 
 
 duct in this particular (had it even been 
 known to her) with any peculiar severity. 
 He was struck dumb with the belief that 
 at length he was detected : and under 
 that feeding continued to stammer unin- 
 telligibly. 
 
 " Dull thing ! " said Grace, '' cannot you 
 tell my mistress whether you know the 
 Captain or not ? " 
 
 Certainly, Tom replied, he knew the 
 Captain by sight. 
 
 " Well, and if my mistress wished you 
 to open his prison door, I suppose you 
 would not pretend to make any objections." 
 
 Tom stared with all his eyes : and be- 
 trayed his feelings of reluctance no less 
 than of surprize. The fact was — he knew 
 secretly that the prisoner was not Captain 
 Nicholas ; and was unwilling to see any 
 speedy temiination to a mistake which was 
 at this moment the best protection of his 
 benefactor. He muttered therefore some 
 
WALLADMOR. 147 
 
 absurdities about high treason, the king, 
 and the parliament. 
 
 '' High treason ! "^said Grace, " Fiddle- 
 de-dee ! what signifies high treason, in 
 comparison with my mistress's orders ? " 
 
 " But the king" — said Tom. 
 
 " The king, Sir ! — don't lay your own 
 wickedness to the king's door: the king 
 would be very well pleased to hear that you 
 had done a little treason yourself, if you 
 told him that it was by a lady's orders. 
 But come. Sir, do as you are bid ; or I 
 shall remember." 
 
 And here Grace shook her fore-finger 
 menacingly at Tom, and began to lower 
 upon him so gloomily, that Tom found 
 himself running into the pains and penalties 
 of treason against higher powers than the 
 king. He hastened therefore by submis- 
 sion, in words and looks, to clear himself of 
 the guilt of rebellion, and avert the impend- 
 ing wrath of Grace ; assuring her that 
 he would do whatsoever he was bid. 
 L 2 
 
148 WALLADMOK. 
 
 Treason, or misprision of treason, was now 
 alike intliiFerent to Tom ; and he was 
 perfectly penitent, and determined to wash 
 out his sin by entire obedience for the 
 future. 
 
 Miss Walladmor then proceeded to give 
 her instructions to Tom ; but suddenly she 
 was interrupted by a tumultuous uproar 
 of voices in the great court. This was 
 succeeded by a violent hurrying of feet from 
 all parts of the castle : and conscious that 
 they were now exposed to immediate in- 
 trusions, Grace suddenly dismissed Tom ; 
 whispered a word or two in his ear ; and 
 then, snatching up the lamp and flinging 
 the shawl about her mistress, lighted her 
 back as rapidly as possible to her own 
 apartments. 
 
 The interruption had arisen from My. 
 Dulberry. That intense patriot was in- 
 censed at the apprehension of a prisoner 
 on political charges or presumptions which 
 he conceived to be in the highest degree 
 
WALLADMOR. 149 
 
 honorable to their object. Still more was 
 he incensed that, instead of being com- 
 mitted to the weak gaol of Dolgelly, from 
 which it would have been easy for a party 
 of patriotic friends to deliver him, the pri- 
 soner had been shut up in a fortress so 
 secure as the Falcon's tower of Walladmor, 
 strengthened as it now was by two troops 
 of dragoons. This again was one of the 
 worst features of the transaction : martial 
 power had usurped the functions of the 
 civil authorities : and the constitutional 
 jealousy of all purists upon matters of 
 Magna Charta was, he conceived, summoned 
 to the case. 
 
 He had accordingly walked up to the 
 castle ; and, upon being challenged by the 
 sentinel, had demanded to speak with Sir 
 Morgan Walladmor : but, as he accom- 
 panied this demand with a torrent of abuse 
 against the worthy baronet and much poli- 
 tical jargon in relation to the prisoner, the 
 sentinel refused to let him pass, and assured 
 
150 WALLADMOR. 
 
 him that he would fire if he should attempt to 
 advance. Mr. Dulberry retreated to a station 
 behind an angle of the castle which he con- 
 ceived not to be mthin musquet range ; and 
 there, stretching his head round the corner, 
 commenced a political lecture upon the Bill 
 of Rights as affected by the use of soldiers 
 in riots ; thence diverging to the " Manches- 
 ter massacres," " Londonderry's hussars," 
 *•' hoofs of dragoons," and other topics by 
 no means calculated to win a favourable 
 attention from his present audience. Some 
 of the dragoons were loitering about the 
 gate : others were soon attracted by the 
 violence of ]\Ir. Dulberry : and a party of 
 them, taking advantage of the dusk, slipped 
 round into the rear of the reformer — seized 
 him and carried him off to the lamps under 
 the gateway. In the tumult Mr. Dulberry's 
 white hat fell off ; and a kick from one of 
 the soldiers sent it to the very edge of the 
 rocky platform before the gate — where this 
 ])urc badge of a pure faith unfortunately 
 
WALLADMOR. 151 
 
 rolled over the precipice and dropped into 
 the sea. Closer examination of Mr. Dul- 
 berry's features revealed to the dragoons a 
 face already pretty familiar to them as 
 one which, whenever they passed through 
 JMachynleth, they had seen popping out 
 from an upper window of the Walladmor 
 Arms, and fulminating all sorts of maledic- 
 tions upon them, their officers, and their 
 profession. Consideration for his age would 
 not allow them to think of any severe 
 vengeance : but, as they had caught the old 
 nuisance, they determined to retort his civi- 
 lities in a pleasant practical way, and to 
 have a little sport before they parted with 
 him. Placing themselves therefore in a 
 ring they sent round this shining light of 
 politics from hand to hand like the Grecian 
 torch-bearers of old.* Bursts of laughter 
 arose from the dragoons and their comrades ; 
 piercing invocations of the Habeas Corpus 
 
 * The Ko(/jLnix.ir)fof«i. 
 
152 AVAI.LAD^lOU. 
 
 act from Mr. Dulberry : and the tumult 
 became so great that at length the old 
 warden JMaxwell sallied forth to learn the 
 cause. Putting his head out from a window 
 of a turret, he summoned the parties to 
 attention by a speaking trumpet ; and 
 demanded to know the occasion of this 
 uproar. ]\Ir. Dulberry stated his grievances ; 
 the loss of his white hat, his violent circum- 
 rotation or gyration which threatened to 
 derange all his political ideas, and (what 
 vexed him still more) the violation in his 
 person of Magna Charta. From his per- 
 sonal grievances he passed to those of his 
 party in general ; citing a statute enacted by 
 the second parliament of Queen Elizabeth 
 in the behalf of those who professed " the 
 Reformed Faith," which statute he applied 
 to the benefit of the modern Radical 
 reformers in JManchester and elsewhere ; 
 and contended that Sir Morgan, as a dis- 
 countenancer and oppressor of all the re- 
 forming party in his neighbourhood, was 
 
WALLADMOR. 153 
 
 clearly upon that statute liable to the penal- 
 ties of high treason. 
 
 All present were scandalized at such 
 language applied to Sir Morgan Walladmor 
 at his own castle gates. The whole house- 
 hold of the baronet had now flocked to the 
 spot: and Mr. Dulberry, perceiving by 
 their gestures that he had a second course 
 of circumrotation or some severer discipline 
 to anticipate, for this once resolved to leave 
 Magna Charta to take care of itself— and 
 took himself as fast as possible to his heels. 
 A general rush was now made by the 
 servants and the dragoons to the ramparts 
 on the other side of the castle, a station 
 from which, in consequence of the winding 
 line pursued by the road, they promised 
 themselves the gratification of snowballing 
 the poor reformer for nearly a quarter of a 
 mile. 
 
 Whilst all the world was at these " high 
 jinks" with Mr. Dulberry, a stranger 
 muffled up in a cloak had very early in 
 
154 WALLADMOR. 
 
 the disturbance taken advantage of the 
 general confusion to pass the gate unob- 
 served. He appeared to be well acquainted 
 with the plan of the castle, and pressed on 
 to one of the principal saloons, in which 
 at this moment Sir Morgan Walladmor 
 was sitting alone. A slight rustling at 
 the other end of the room caused Sir M. 
 to raise his head from the letters which lay 
 before him ; and, seeing a dusky figure 
 standing between two whole-length por- 
 traits of his ancestors, he almost began to 
 imaofine that some one of the house of 
 Walladmor had returned from the grave 
 to give him ghostly admonition. 
 
 The stranger turned and locked the 
 door ; and then, without unmuffling him- 
 self, advanced towards Sir IMorgan ; who, 
 on his part, was struck with some indistinct 
 sense of awe as before a mysterious being — 
 but kept his seat without alarm. At a 
 few paces from the table, the stranger 
 paused ; and said — 
 
WALLADMOR. 155 
 
 " Sir Morgan Walladmor ! I come to let 
 you know that an innocent man is confined 
 under your sanction : the prisoner in the 
 chambers of the Falcon's tower is not the 
 person you take him for." 
 
 " And is this your reason for pressing 
 thus unceremoniously to my presence ? " 
 
 " It is." 
 
 " Then appear as a witness for the ac- 
 cused, and give your evidence before the 
 jury by whom he will be tried." 
 
 " Sir Morgan, I again assure you that 
 your prisoner is not Captain Edward 
 Nicholas." 
 
 "Who then?." 
 
 " Let it suffice that he is not Captain 
 Nicholas ? " 
 
 " But who is it that I am required to 
 believe? Who are you? What vouchers, 
 what security, do you offer for the truth of 
 what you tell me ? *' 
 
 " Security ! — You would have security ? 
 You shall. Do you remember that time, 
 
156 WALLADMOR. 
 
 when the great Dutch ship was cruizing off 
 the coast, and the landing of the crew was 
 nightly expected ? " 
 
 " I remember it well ; for at that time 
 I had beset the coast with faithful fol- 
 lowers: political disturbances at Chester 
 and Shrewsbury concurred at that time to 
 make sueh a descent on the coast a subject 
 of much alarm ; and once or twice I 
 watched myself all night through." 
 
 " True : and on the 29th of September 
 you were lying upon your arms behind 
 Arthur's pillar. About midnight a man in 
 the uniform of a sea-fencible joined you : 
 and you may remember some conversation 
 you had with him ? " 
 
 Had Sir M. Walladmor been addicted to 
 trembling, he would now have trembled : 
 with earnest gaze, and outstretched arms, 
 he listened without speaking to the stranger, 
 who continued : " You talked together, 
 until the moon was setting ; and then, 
 when the work was done — Sir JMorgan — 
 
WALLADMOR. 157 
 
 when the work was done, a shot was fired : 
 and in the twinkling of an eye up sprang 
 the sea-fencible ; and he cried aloud, as I 
 do now. Farewell ! Sir IVIorgan Wallad- 
 mor ! " And so saying the stranger threw 
 open his cloak, discovering underneath a 
 dirk and a brace of pistols; and at the same 
 time, with an impressive gesture, he raised 
 his cap from his head. 
 
 " It is Captain Nicholas]!" exclaimed 
 the baronet. 
 
 " At your service. Sir Morgan Wallad- 
 mor. Do you now believe that your pri- 
 soner is innocent ? " 
 
 Sir ]\Iorgan here threatened to detain 
 him : but Captain Nicholas convinced him 
 that he had taken his measures well, and 
 was not likely to be intercepted. " I have 
 the command of the door," said he ; " and 
 your household. Sir IMorgan, at this mo- 
 ment is too much occupied with Mr. Dul- 
 berry to have any ears for your summons." 
 
158 WALLA DMOE. 
 
 Then, in a lower and more impressive voice, 
 he added— 
 
 " Grey hairs I reverence : and to you in 
 particular, least of all men, do I bear ma- 
 lice : though oft, God knows, in my young 
 days, old Sir, you have cost me an ague- 
 fit." 
 
 He folded his cloak ; looked once again 
 upon the old man : and with an aspect, in 
 which some defiance was blended with a 
 deep sorrow that could not be mistaken, he 
 turned away slowly with the words — " Fare- 
 well ! — Gladly, Sir Morgan, I would offer 
 you my hand : but that in this world is not 
 to be : a Walladmor does not give his hand 
 to an outlaw ! " 
 
 Sir Morgan was confounded : he looked 
 on whilst the bold offender with tranquil 
 steps moved down the whole length of the 
 saloon, opened the folding doors, and va- 
 nished. Sir Morgan was still numbering 
 the steps of the departing visitor, as he 
 
WALLADMOR. 159 
 
 descended the great stair-case : and the 
 last echo had reached his ear from the re- 
 mote windings of the castle chambers, 
 whilst he was yet unresolved what course 
 he should pursue. 
 
WALLADMOR. I6l 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 O, tiger's heart, wrapt in a woman's hide ! 
 
 How could'st thou drain the life-blood of the child, 
 
 To bid the father wipe his eyes withal, 
 
 And yet be seen to bear a woman's face ? 
 
 Women are soft, mild, pitiful and flexible ; 
 
 Thou — stern, obdurate, flinty, rough, remorseless. 
 
 Third part of King Henry VJ. 
 
 Bertram was now immediately restored 
 to liberty. Indeed the baronet had never 
 perfectly acquiesced in the presumptions, 
 however circumstantial, which went to 
 identify him with Captain Nicholas. Ber- 
 tram, as it struck him, looked younger ; 
 and had the appearance of greater delicacy 
 of constitution, or at least of having been 
 bred up less hardily : whence perhaps was 
 derived his more juvenile aspect. His voice 
 also sounded very different : and, though 
 Sir IMorgan had not been able to recal the 
 peculiar tone of Captain Nicholas, he i^ecog- 
 
 VOL. II. M 
 
162 WALLADMOR. 
 
 nized it most unequivocally at that instant 
 when the Captain threw off his disguise. 
 A considerable interest in Bertram had 
 from the first arisen in Sir Morgan's 
 mind from the general air of candor and 
 amiable feeling which marked his demea- 
 nour ; and this interest was not weakened 
 by the remarkable resemblance which Sir 
 JMorgan believed that he discovered in 
 Bertram's features and expression to the por- 
 traits in the Walladmor picture-gallery of 
 two distinguished ancestors of his o^vn house. 
 Partly on these special claims to his notice, 
 and partly with the general desire of ex- 
 pressing his concern to the young man for 
 the unmerited distress into which he had 
 been thrown, the kind-hearted old gentleman 
 gave him a pressing invitation to take up 
 his abode for some time in Walladmor 
 Castle; an invitation which, as it offered 
 him a ready introduction into English soci- 
 ety, and was pressed mth evident sincerity, 
 Bertram did not hesitate to accept. 
 
WALLADMOR. 163 
 
 The clergyman of the parish, who had 
 been sent to Bertram as a ghostly adviser 
 and summon er to repentance, could not boast 
 of much success with his subject in that 
 character. In fact the young stranger had 
 been too much interested by some of the 
 books * furnished from Sir Morgan's library 
 to have leisure for such serious thoughts. But 
 a thing or a person, that is of no use in one 
 function, may do excellent service in an- 
 other: and the Reverend Mr. Williams, who 
 had failed in his spiritual mission, was 
 turned to good worldly account by Bertram 
 as a gossiper and a mine of information 
 upon all questions which had arisen to ex- 
 cite his curiosity in the course of his recent 
 adventures. 
 
 The case of poor Mrs. Godber, his aged 
 hostess in Anglesea, was easily explained. 
 
 Four and twenty years ago her eldest 
 son, at that time about seventeen years old, 
 
 * iModesty forbids us to say which : but a truth is a trutli : 
 and his favorite volume, we understand, was in " post JJvo." 
 
 M 2 
 
164 WAT.LADMOR. 
 
 had participated in some smuggling transac- 
 tion during which two revenue officers had 
 been killed under circumstances which the 
 law adjudged to be murder. Nobody sus- 
 pected young Godber of having (in the 
 English sense of the word) assisted in this 
 murder, foreseen it, or approved it : but in 
 the French sense he did ' assist : ' that is, 
 lie was present : and therefore in the eye of 
 the law an accessary. As such, he was put 
 upon his trial — found guilty — and sen- 
 tenced to death. Unfortunately at this 
 time the outrages of the smugglers upon 
 the coast of Wales had become so frequent 
 and terrific, that it was judged necessary to 
 make an example. The case came before 
 the Privy Council : the opinion of Sir Mor- 
 gan Walladmor, as lord lieutenant of the 
 two counties chiefly infested by the smug- 
 glers, naturally weighed a good deal with 
 the council : and this opinion w\is unfavor- 
 able to the poor young criminal. 
 
 " But in later years," said Mr. Williams, 
 
WALLADMOR. l65 
 
 " and when Sir Morgan had conio to think 
 very differently on some parts of that un- 
 happy affair, I have often heard him protest 
 with earnestness that in giing the opinion 
 he did at the council board he was simply 
 reporting the universal judgment of the 
 magistracy throughout the maritime coun- 
 ties of North Wales. This, ]\Ir. Bertram, 
 I am sm'e was true. But that was known 
 to few ; and Sir JMorgan from his high 
 station drew the whole blame upon himself: 
 and perhaps in one view not unjustly. For, 
 though he was not single in the opinion 
 which decided the case against the poor 
 boy, it was generally believed that his single 
 voice on the other side the question would 
 have outweighed all opposition, and have 
 obtained the mercy of the crown. So at 
 least the poor boy's mother thought : and she 
 addressed herself to Sir Morgan morning, 
 noon 5 • and night. The lad was her darl- 
 ing child ; indeed her other son, Tom, was 
 then only an infant ; and, as the time drew 
 
166 VVALL.SDMOll. 
 
 near for his execution, she was like a mad 
 thing. Never was there such an agony of 
 intercession. She wept, and prayed, and 
 clung about Sir ]\Iorgan's knees, and tore 
 her hair : she rushed through all the ser- 
 vants, ran up stairs, and found out lady 
 Walladmor's room : lady Walladmor was 
 then ill, and sitting in her dressing-room : 
 but she (God love her !) was the kindest 
 creature in the world : and she was easily 
 won to come and beg for the poor distracted 
 mother. In the great hall she kneeled to 
 Sir Morgan : but all wouldn't do. I have 
 heard Sir Morgan say that his heart re- 
 lented even at that time : and he had a 
 sort of misgiving upon him that night, as 
 he looked back upon the frantic worn. an 
 from the head of the great stair-case, that 
 all could not go right — and that some evil 
 would fall upon him for standing out 
 against such pleadings as he had just heard. 
 Still his sense of duty, according to the 
 notion he then had of his duty, obliged 
 
WAIXADMOR. 167 
 
 him to persist : and besides he told them 
 both that, after what had been said to the 
 council, it was now impossible to make 
 another application on the case — unless 
 some new circumstance in the boy's favor 
 had come out. This was very unadvised 
 in Sir JMorgan : for it confirmed the mother 
 in her belief that it was his representations 
 which had determined the fate of her son. 
 
 " Mv, Bertram, you have read Virgil : 
 and in that fine episode of i\lezentius, 
 which we all admire so much (and which, 
 by the way, seems to me finer even than 
 the * Shield of .Eneas,' or with the critics' 
 leave than any thing in the sixth book), 
 there are tv/o grand hemistichs applied to 
 the case of jSlezentius in the moment of his 
 mounting his horse to avenge the death of 
 his gallant son who (you will remember) 
 had fallen a sacrifice to his filial piety : 
 
 mixtoque insania luctu. 
 
 Et furiis ajritatus amor 
 
 1 remember llieni well," snid Bertram : 
 
168 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " and Virgil has reflected rather a weak- 
 ening effect on them by afterwards apply- 
 ing the same words to a case of inferior 
 passion." 
 
 " He has so. But, to return to the case 
 of Mrs. Godber, these fine words of the 
 Roman poet may convey some picture of 
 her state of mind ; it was truly the state of 
 Mezentius — * mixtoque insania luctu' — 
 frenzy mixed with grief; and the tender- 
 ness of maternal love, that love which is 
 taken in Scripture as the express image of 
 the love which exists in the divine nature, 
 tarnished and darkened by earthly — I may 
 say by hellish — passions. Even then, and 
 from that very night, she altered much : as 
 one passed her, she muttered indistinctly ; 
 often she would lift up her hands in the 
 air, clench them, and shake them as if at 
 some figure that she saw in the clouds ; and 
 at times she slunk into corners, refused all 
 comfort or society, and sank wholly into 
 herself" 
 
WALLADMOR. 169 
 
 " And how meantime did her son 
 behave ? " 
 
 . " Oh, Sir, incomparably well. He knew 
 his mother's temper : and the very night 
 before he suffered, as he hung about her 
 neck and kissed her at their farewell inter- 
 view, he wrung her hand and prayed her to 
 put aside all thoughts of vengeance. I 
 attended him to the last : and his final words 
 to me on the scaffold, as the executioner 
 prepared to draw the cap over his face, 
 were — * God bless you, Sir, and remember!' 
 by which he meant to remind me of his 
 only request ; and that was that I would 
 visit his mother, and endeavour to soothe 
 her into resignation, and persuade her to 
 let him sleep unremembered in his grave ; 
 and not to recal the memory of his un- 
 happy end to people's minds by any action 
 that might make shipwreck of her own con- 
 science. Young as he was, Mr. Bertram, 
 these were the thoughts that made the 
 bitterness of death to him ; ' thoughts 
 
1 70 WALL ADMOK. 
 
 high for one so tender : ' * most of all 
 
 the thought afflicted him that he should be 
 made the occasion of overthrowing the peace 
 of mind of her whom he loved beyond all 
 things in the world. Sir ]\iorgan mused 
 much when he heard this report of the 
 boy's latter hours; and afterwards much 
 more, when two of the older smugglers were 
 taken and condemned for the same murders: 
 for their confessions wholly exonerated him 
 from all knowledge of their worst actions : 
 he was considered by the whole gang as a 
 mere child ; so indeed he was : and nothing 
 was ever commAmicated to him of their 
 schemes : nor was he ever present at any 
 of them except by mere accident. The 
 extent of his connexion appeared to have 
 been this — that now and then he had given 
 them a helping hand in stowing away their 
 smuggled goods ; and that only for the 
 sake of his mother, who was very poor, 
 having just become a widow, — and in this 
 
 * Winlei't TaL. 
 
WALLADMOU. 171 
 
 way obtained a few groceries or other addi- 
 tions to her domestic comforts. This it 
 was that made the sharpest sting in the 
 mother's wretchedness : she knew that all 
 had been done for her ; that, but for her 
 sake, he would never have gone near the 
 smugglers ; and that, without perhaps di- 
 rectly giving her sanction to such con- 
 nexions, she had never decidedly opposed 
 them — and had availed herself of their 
 profits. Some were unfeeling enough to 
 throw this in the poor creature's teeth, 
 whose heart was already wounded beyond 
 what she could bear; and after that she 
 became perfectly frantic." 
 
 '' You visited her then, Mr. Williams ? " 
 " I did for a time ; and indeed she has 
 always been willing to hold intercourse 
 with me in consideration of what I did and 
 attempted to do for her son. But I will 
 confess to you, J\Ir. Bertram, that the spec- 
 tacle of a human being originally of strong 
 mind driven by extremity of wretchednesf^ 
 
172 VVALLADMOR. 
 
 into the total wreck of her own final peace, 
 — her moral feelings all giving way before 
 a devihsh malignity, and her wits gradually 
 unsettling under this tremendous internal 
 conflict, — was too pitiable to be supported 
 by me, unless I had felt myself able in some 
 way or other to stem the misery which I 
 witnessed : and, after the perpetration of 
 that great crime by which she sought to 
 avenge herself, I could never bear to go 
 near her ; though I have occasionally con- 
 versed with her on the roads." 
 
 " What crime do you speak of, Mr. 
 Williams ? and how is it that, having com- 
 mitted any crime to justify your present 
 language, she is yet allowed to go at large ? 
 " I do not speak of any crime proved in 
 a court of justice, or perhaps capable of 
 being so; but nobody ever doubted that 
 ]\Irs. Godber was the secret mover in the 
 matter; though the very nature of her 
 purpose obliged her to employ tlie hand 
 of an intermediate agent. — About three 
 
WALLADMOR. 173 
 
 months after the execution of the poor boy, 
 and when the ferment of that unhappy 
 affair was beginning to subside in all minds 
 but those of his mother and of Sir Morgan, 
 lady Walladmor lay in of twins. By 
 whose means it never has been discovered 
 — the only person, who could certainly have 
 cleared up that matter, being so soon 
 removed by death, — but from some quarter 
 or other a moving representation had been 
 made to lady Walladmor, when riding out, 
 in favour of a young woman who about 
 that time applied for the place of under 
 nurse: she was described to have been 
 deserted under circumstances of peculiar 
 interest by a person to whom she was under 
 an engagement of marriage; and other 
 particulars, implying some unusual eleva- 
 tion of character in the young w^oman, were 
 reported in a way which was likely to 
 plead powerfully with a woman of her lady- 
 ship's known goodness of heart. But all 
 these representations were false, as came out 
 when it was too late. However she was 
 
174 WALLADMOR. 
 
 hired. It was not known at that time, — 
 or, if it were, only to those who allowed it 
 no weight in their minds, — that she was a 
 niece of Gillie Godber's. That perhaps of 
 itself was not so important a fact : but she 
 had lived for the seven last years of her life 
 in her aunt's house, had fallen deeply 
 under her influence, and shared in her 
 feelings with regard to the execution of the 
 young boy her cousin. Moving chiefly 
 under this influence, and confirmed no 
 doubt by the means which suddenly offered 
 of appropriating a veiy large sum of money, 
 this woman lent herself as the instrument 
 to the savage vengeance of her aunt — which 
 in one hour laid prostrate the happy pros- 
 pects of an ancient house and ravaged 
 their peace in a way which time has done 
 nothing to heal. And here it was, Mr. 
 Bertram, that Gillie Godber forfeited all 
 hold on the public sympathy — even amongst 
 those whose rank indisposed them to judge 
 Sir JMorgan with any charity. All hearts 
 were steeled against lier. Sir Morgan 
 
WALLADMOR. 175 
 
 might be thought to have clone her wrong : 
 with regard to the fact, as it ultimately 
 came out, he certainly had ; though not, 
 as I am sure, in design or according to the 
 light of his conscience at that time. But 
 for lady Walladmor, the meek and gentle 
 lady that had wept with her — wept for 
 her — pleaded for her — prayed for her — 
 knelt for her ; — Gillie Godber, that was a 
 mother by so bitter a mother's pang, to 
 forget the mother's heart in her benefac- 
 tress ; she, that mourned for a son, to tear 
 the infants for ever from their mother s 
 breasts, and consign them — oh ! heart of 
 Herod — to a life worse than a thousand 
 deaths amongst robbers, pirates, murderers, 
 — this it was that blotted out from all 
 men's memories her own wrongs, cancelled 
 and tore the record of her sufferings. — Mr. 
 Bertram, it will be four and twenty years 
 next summer from the date of this misera- 
 ble transaction ; and yet I protest that the 
 storm of affliction, which in one night 
 descended upon this ancient house of 
 
176 WALLADMOR. 
 
 Walladmor, was, in itself— in its origin — 
 and its irreparable nature, so memorable a 
 scene of human frailty, such a monument of 
 the awful power for evil which is lodged in 
 the humblest of human beings when shaken 
 by extremity of passion and liberated from 
 restraints of conscience, that at this moment 
 the impression of all its circumstances is 
 as fresh and perfect as if it happened 
 yesterday; nor do I think that any time 
 could avail to dim them. To me, as also 
 in the end to Sir Morgan, the moral of the 
 whole was this — that human affections, 
 love and grief in excess, are holy things, 
 — yes, even in that wicked woman, were 
 holy — and not lightly to be set at nought 
 or rejected without judgment and vengeance 
 to foUow." 
 
 Here I\Ir. Williams paused : but Bertram 
 was so much interested in the story, both 
 in itself and from the connexion into which 
 he had so recently been brought with two 
 of those who bore a principal share in it, 
 that he earnestly requested him to complete 
 
WALLADMOR. 177 
 
 his narrative ; which, after a short interval 
 of thought, he did. 
 
 " The dreadful event, to which I have 
 been alluding, took place on the 12th of 
 June, three-and-twenty years ago — dating 
 from the summer which is past. About 
 seven o'clock on the evening of that day, 
 finding herself unusually languid and weary, 
 lady Walladmor had lain down on a sopha 
 in one of the children's apartments. A 
 fortnight, I ought to mention, had passed 
 from the time of her accouche7nent : she 
 had suffered much, and was recovering but 
 slowly : and her female attendants had, in 
 consequence, been a good deal harassed by 
 unseasonable watchings and sudden dis- 
 turbances of their rest. They, poor crea- 
 tures ! submitted to these, as they would 
 have done to far greater hardships, cheer- 
 fully and without a murmur : indeed all the 
 servants in the castle would have gone 
 through fire and water to have served their 
 lady ; all but one : and that one, alas ! was 
 
 VOL. II. N 
 
178 WALLADMOR. 
 
 now left alone in attendance upon hew 
 Lady Walladmor, who was all consideration 
 for every body about her, and just such 
 another angel upon earth as Miss Wallad- 
 mor at present, had dismissed her own maid 
 and the upper nurse — to refresh themselves 
 in any way they thought fit from the 
 fatigues of their long day's attendance ; for 
 they had been called up at two o'clock in 
 the morning. One of the under nurses was 
 engaged in the laundry. And thus it hap- 
 pened that the duty of attending the two 
 children, who were both asleep in the ad- 
 joining room, devolved on that serpents- 
 Winifred Griffiths." 
 
 " Winifred Griffiths ? " exclaimed Ber- 
 tram in a tone of consternation. 
 
 " Yes ; Winified Griffiths : " and at the 
 same time Mr. Williams looked at him 
 keenly : " have you ever met with a person 
 of that name ? " 
 
 " I do not know that I have," replied 
 Bertram : " but I remember reading many 
 
WALLADMOR. 179 
 
 books in my youth that bore that name in 
 the blank leaves. One of these I left at 
 Machynleth; and I will show it you to- 
 moiTow. Meantime pray go on." 
 
 Mr. Williams mused a little, and then 
 proceeded. " Griffiths, as she was generally 
 called in the castle, to distinguish her from 
 another Winifred upon the establishment, 
 had a style of person and countenance much 
 like those of her aunt, Mrs. Godber : but 
 she was still handsomer, and (if possible) 
 prouder. Many people wondered that lady 
 Walladmor could like her ; but she was a 
 girl of superior understanding, very well- 
 mannered, and subtle as the fiend ; so that 
 she masqued her demoniacal purposes 
 before lady Walladmor \vith a cloak of 
 insinuating softness far too thick for that 
 good creature to penetrate. She had 
 besides many accomplishments, which she 
 had learned from the young ladies of an 
 elegant Irish family by whom she had been 
 N 2 
 
180 WALLADMOIl. 
 
 educated : and amongst these was the art 
 of reading, which she had undoiihtedly in 
 great perfection. This, and the elegance 
 of her manners, recommended her especially 
 to lady Walladmor. And on the present 
 occasion, as the other women were leaving 
 the room, lady Walladmor bade them tell 
 Griffiths to stay in the adjoining one ; 
 meaning, in case she found herself miable 
 to sleep, to go and sit by the side of her 
 children, whilst Griffiths read to her. 
 Hoping however that she might be able to 
 sleep, they were directed not to return 
 until Griffiths or her ladyship should ring. 
 
 " Unhappy mother ! that was thus un- 
 consciously preparing all things for the 
 snake that even now — ' her crest bright- 
 ening with hope' was couchant by her 
 children's cradle. Unhappy children ! that 
 on this quiet summer-night were to be 
 driven out upon the main sea of a stormy 
 and wicked world from the quiet haven of 
 
WALLADMOR. 181 
 
 their father's castle, and had already on this 
 earth parted for ever from their angelic 
 mother ! 
 
 " Lady Walladmor fell asleep : and, 
 when she next awoke, the room was gloomy 
 with dusk : indeed it was all but dark ; for 
 it must have been nearly ten o'clock. She 
 rang the bell : and the housekeeper, who 
 happened to be passing the door, answered 
 it. 
 
 " ' Oh, is that you, Mrs. Howel ? ' said 
 her ladyship : ' send candles ; and tell lady 
 Charlotte that she may come up, if she is 
 not gone to bed.' 
 
 " Lady Charlotte Vaughan was a little 
 girl of seven years old, a daughter of 
 the Earl of Kilgarran, who married lady 
 Walladmor s sister, and had been for some 
 months on a visit to her aunt. In a trans- 
 port of pleasure on receiving this permis- 
 sion, the child ran up before the candles ; 
 and, on kissing her, it seemed that lady 
 Walladmor had asked playfully what they 
 
182 WALLADMOK. 
 
 would say at Kilgarran if they knew of 
 her keeping such late hours. 
 
 " Upon this the child had answered 
 gaily that her little cousins were not yet 
 gone to bed ; and that at least she must 
 stay up till after them. 
 
 " ' Your cousins, my love, I am sorry to 
 say, sleep less in the night than the day. 
 However, they have been in bed for hours.' 
 
 " ' Oh, no ! they were gone out into the 
 park.' 
 
 ** Lady Walladmor must have thought 
 the child dreaming ; she questioned her ; 
 and no doubt heard the same account from 
 her which she afterwards repeated to us 
 all; — how far she was impressed by it, 
 cannot be known : but possibly, at this 
 moment, the silence of the adjoining room 
 struck her as remarkable ; at any rate, as 
 the ready means of putting an end to all 
 doubts, she went thither — called probably — 
 receiving no answer, felt about in the dark- 
 ness for her children'^ cradles ; found them: 
 
WALLADMOR. 183 
 
 they were empty — they were cold ! And 
 nistantly, with feelings no doubt such as 
 could not have been remembered if she 
 had ever had it in her power to speak of 
 that moment, lady Walladmor uttered a 
 piercing shriek and fell to the ground. 
 
 " Lady Charlotte ran to alarm the fa- 
 mily : the servant, whom she met on the 
 stairs with the candles, sent her on to sum- 
 mon assistance, whilst she herself pressed 
 forwards : in half a minute all lady Wallad- 
 mor's women were about her : there was no 
 need to make inquiries : the empty cradles 
 told the miserable tale : and circumstances 
 of confirmation came out at every moment. 
 
 " Just at this time Sir Morgan arrived 
 from Dolgelly, where he had been attend- 
 ing a public meeting. With the rapidity 
 of a train of gunpowder the whole course of 
 the transaction, and its devilish pm*pose, 
 came out : lady Charlotte had met Griffiths 
 in a passage which you have perhaps ob- 
 served to connect the green-house with 
 
184 WAI.LADMOK. 
 
 what was then lady WaUadmor's suite of 
 apartments ; in this passage there was a 
 private door into the park, of which the 
 key hung in the very room where the poor 
 mother was sleeping. As she passed, Grif- 
 fiths said nothing : hut, as she came near, 
 one of the children cried ; and Griffiths 
 endeavoured to stifle the cry by drawing 
 her cloak closer ; in doing which, a sudden 
 motion of her arm caused the cloak to open ; 
 and lady Charlotte had distinctly seen both 
 her little cousins. By crossing one corner of 
 the park, which is there sheltered from view 
 of the windows by the battlements, there 
 was a near road to a sort of woodland horse 
 track, not much frequented, which led 
 down to the sea-shore. Here she had been 
 seen hurrying along by a woodman, who 
 observed her from a distance, and described 
 her dress accurately. This was about eight 
 o'clock. Ten minutes later she had been 
 seen in company with another woman tra- 
 versing the sea-shore. Then all at once it 
 
WALLADMOR. 185 
 
 came out in the general confusion that 
 Griffiths was the niece of Gillie Godber. 
 Sir Morgan had himself, about nine o'clock, 
 in coming over the hills from Dolgelly, 
 observed the smuggling ship under sail. 
 The lover of Griffiths was known to be one 
 of the smugglers : all of them, it is certain, 
 would abet any plan of vengeance upon Sir 
 Morgan Walladmor : and, in less time than 
 I have taken to relate it, the whole devilish 
 plot — mode, purpose, and too probable 
 success, — became apparent to every body in 
 the castle. 
 
 " Cases, in which hope and fear are 
 brought into fierce struggle with each other, 
 are those which are the worst to support 
 and which bear heavily on the fortitude 
 even of strongest minds. This was shown 
 in Sir Morgan : there was still a chance 
 that the smuggler might be intercepted : 
 and that chance might be defeated in a 
 thousand ways. Hence it was perhaps 
 that then first during my whole knowledge 
 
186 WALLADMOll. 
 
 of him, and then last, I saw Sir Morgan 
 Walladmor lose his self-possession. Now 
 was Gillie Godber avenged : even in his 
 own hall — that hall which had echoed to 
 her maternal groans and rung with the 
 agony of her fruitless supplications, even 
 there — on the very spot where her curse 
 was muttered — had it taken effect : where 
 it was breathed, there had it caught him : 
 just where she stood — he stood : where she 
 was shaken as by fierce convulsions — there 
 was he shaken : where she raved — he raved : 
 and under the very light of that same lamp, 
 which lighted up the ghastly despair of the 
 wretched mother as she heard the decree 
 which sealed for ever the fate of her bloom- 
 ing boy, did I read in Sir ]\Iorgan's features 
 too surely a revelation of his foreboding 
 soul, that one night had stripped him bare 
 of comfort and left him a poor forlorn man 
 to a life of self-reproach — of shipwrecked 
 hopes — and blasted affections. 
 
 " What was to be done ? All were eager 
 
WALLADMOll. 187 
 
 to be in motion ; all fretting, I may say, to 
 follow and avenge ; but how, or with what 
 hope ? One bold fellow offered to man 
 Sir JMorgan's pinnace, barge, and all the 
 other small craft he could collect, with 
 sailors and others from the neighbourhood — 
 to pursue the smuggler — and to carry her, 
 if possible, by boarding. But this, consi- 
 dering the strength of the smuggler, was 
 too hopeless an attempt to be countenanced. 
 There were however king's ships cruising 
 or in port all the way between Barmouth 
 and Parkgate : the nearest of these, a sloop 
 called the Falcon, was said to be lying at 
 anchor off Aber, between Bangor and Con- 
 way : and in that direction expresses were 
 sent off one upon the heels of the other ; 
 some having orders to go on to Parkgate 
 and Liverpool. A favourite groom of Sir 
 Morgan's, on this occasion, rode a thorough- 
 bred horse in two hours and a quarter to 
 Bangor Ferry : between Beddgelart and 
 Carnarvon he had learned that the sloop 
 
188 WALLADMOll. 
 
 was anchored off Beaumaris : he turned 
 aside therefore from the Bangor road to the 
 Ferry. There he jumped into a six-oared 
 boat, and made for Beaumaris. Faithfully 
 he did his duty : as you will suppose when 
 I tell you that the castle clock had struck 
 ten when he mounted, and a little after one 
 we that stood on the summits of Arthur's 
 chair — the high peak to the northward — 
 heard a sullen report in the direction of 
 Carnarvon : we all knew that this must be 
 a signal to us from the Falcon — giving 
 notice of her approach. She was now 
 standing through the Menai strait. Twenty 
 minutes after this a second gun was fired ; 
 and the prodigious roar of echoes, which it 
 awoke in the mountains, proclaimed that 
 she had passed Carnarvon. At two the 
 flashes of her guns became visible, and 
 showed that she had uncovered the point of 
 Llandovery. At a quarter past two there 
 was light enough to make her out dis- 
 tinctly ; she carried a press of sail ; and a 
 
WALLADMOR. 189 
 
 few minutes after that we discovered the 
 smuggler in the offing, about three miles to 
 leeward of the Falcon. 
 
 The same high gale which had carried 
 the Falcon so rapidly through the Menai, 
 had baffled the smuggler in her attempt to 
 go to the northward : for that was obviously 
 her intention ; and she still continued to 
 tack in that direction. We expected that, 
 as soon as she descried the Falcon, she 
 would wear and run : but, greatly to our 
 surprize, she took no notice of her — but 
 continued standing on her tack in the 
 evident design of running to the outside of 
 the isle of Anglesea. 
 
 " The Falcon, seeing her purpose, fired a 
 shot to bring her to. This the smuggler 
 paid no sort of regard to : and we all began 
 to suspect some mistake : as the light in- 
 creased, and we could use our glasses with 
 effect, we found too certainly that there 
 was. The smuggler was painted so as to 
 resemble the Viper ; and Sir Morgan had 
 
190 WALI.ADMOK. 
 
 taken her for that vessel on the night 
 before : but we now suspected (and the 
 event proved) that she was her partner, the 
 Rattlesnake — a ship of much greater force 
 with a piratical crew from the South Seas, 
 and strengthened by some of the picked 
 hands from the Viper. She had come 
 round expressly on this service from the 
 West coast of Ireland, where she had been 
 hovering for some time back. The officer, 
 who commanded the Falcon, had no doubt 
 found his mistake before we did : but it 
 seemed that, both for the honor of his flag 
 and on account of the affecting occasion, he 
 resolved to light her under any odds. The 
 wind moderated at this time : but he kept 
 on his course, and neared her fast. 
 
 •* At three o'clock the Falcon ranged up 
 within pistol shot. At this moment tlie 
 Rattlesnake showed her colors — black, 
 striped with horizontal crimson bars, the 
 well-known flag of a rover tliat had of late 
 years fixed his nest in tlie Gallapagos, and 
 
WALLADMOR. 191 
 
 thence infested the South Seas. Not a shot 
 had yet been exchanged : and just before 
 the action commenced we could distinguish 
 Griffiths making her way across the decks 
 from the cabin to the cock-pit. Oh ! what 
 a moment of suspense for us ! — Oh ! for 
 some arm from heaven to strengthen the 
 righteous cause ! Some angel to intercept 
 the oppressor's triumph ; or some darkness 
 to hide it from the oppressed ! 
 
 *' Never again may the innocent light of 
 early dawn, when visiting our quiet seas, 
 and these peaceful valleys of Merioneth- 
 shire, ascend upon such a spectacle of 
 human crime and woe as lay before me at 
 that moment of that sweet summer morn- 
 ing. There in front, upon the tranquil 
 sea, began the bloody strife — the thunder 
 
 and the carnage: On my right hand 
 
 stood the unhappy father, praying for some 
 merciful shot to dismiss his children from 
 
 the evil to come : In a gloomy iir-grove 
 
 on my left hand stood the guilty, but most 
 
192 WALLADMOR. 
 
 miserable, mother — Gillie Godber, specta- 
 tress of Sir Morgan's agonies, writhing with 
 exultation that her vengeance had reached 
 his heart, and laughing like a fell hyaena as 
 she surveyed her work upon the sea. 
 
 " But why should I dwell upon these 
 hideous remembrances ? Let a few words 
 tell the issue : the Rattlesnake w^as greatly 
 superior to her antagonist in number of men, 
 and those picked men, three parts of them 
 English and Irish : consequently there was 
 no chance of boarding with success. She 
 had also the advantage in number of guns, 
 but much more advantage in weight of 
 metal. Hence, and from the fatal effect of 
 one broadside upon the rudder and rigging 
 of the Falcon — within half an hour from 
 the commencement of the action, and just 
 as the sun rose — the Rattlesnake beheld 
 her enemy lying unmanageable on the 
 water, and unable to bring a gun to bear. 
 In this condition the Falcon would have 
 lain at the pirate's mercy, but for the 
 
WALLADMOR. 193 
 
 appearance of two sail which now hove in 
 sight from the southward: the wind had 
 shifted two or three points and was fresh- 
 ening ; the Rattlesnake crowded sail ; was 
 out of sight before the strangers came 
 up ; and the end of that scene was, that 
 our brave champion was towed into Car- 
 narvon — crippled, helpless, dismantled, all 
 but a wreck, and with the third part of her 
 crew slaughtered, 
 
 " But from this scene Sir Morgan was 
 now summoned hastily away to another 
 which, too ruefully he augured, must await 
 him. A second lesson he was now to have 
 upon the sanctity of human affections. For 
 I will maintain, Mr. Bertram, — that how- 
 ever the poor may, upon matters of taste, 
 delicacy, or refinement, seem coarser in 
 their feelings, and less sensitive than the 
 rich (from which aspect it is that many 
 people take their estimate of poor people's 
 sensibihties),— yet in all that regards the 
 primary affections I will maintain, I say, 
 
 VOL. II. o 
 
194 WALLADMOR. 
 
 that the distinctions of rich and poor — high 
 and low — are lighter than dew or the dust 
 which is in the balance. The ties, which 
 cement the great elementary relations of 
 human life, are equally strong in every 
 rank ; alike sacred in the eyes of God ; and 
 in the lowest as in the highest, the anguish 
 of their dissolution as perfect. Now did 
 Sir Morgan learn what that anguish was : 
 the next half hour taught him to estimate 
 the torments of a final parting from the 
 being in whom the whole heart's love lies 
 treasured. — Lady Walladmor had passed 
 the night in convulsions, falling out of one 
 fit into another with intervals of only a few 
 moments. Towards sun-rise the intervals 
 grev/ longer, but she was evidently sinking 
 fast ; she was sensible ; and, as she reco- 
 vered the use of speech, she asked for Sir 
 IMorgan. 
 
 " I entered the room with Sir Morgan ; 
 lady Walladmor was sitting on a sopha 
 propped up by cushions and surrounded by 
 
WALLADMOl?. 19.5 
 
 her women. All of us staid ill the room ; 
 for some could not be spared ; and tlie 
 presence of strangers is distressing only 
 when they are neutral spectators and not 
 participators in the emotion witnessed — as 
 7ve were in the very deepest degree, and by 
 an interest which far transcended the possi- 
 bility of any vulgar interest of curiosity. — 
 There is no doubt that lady Walladmor had 
 recollected some circumstance in the appli- 
 cation made to her on behalf of Winifred 
 Griffiths — not understood or suspected at 
 that time — but suddenly interpreted to her 
 by the event of the preceding night and too 
 sadly interpreting that event. This was 
 plain : for she asked no information from 
 us : she saw by our countenances that we 
 had none to give her which could shed 
 a comfort on her dying moments : and 
 even to turn her thoughts that way was too 
 terrific a trial for her exhausted nature. 
 She moved her head mournfully with a 
 world of sad meaning : twice she raised and 
 o 2 
 
196 WALLADMOR. 
 
 dropped her hand, as if m supplication or 
 internal prayer : a third time she raised it, 
 and the hand fell into that of Sir Morgan's : 
 her lips moved ; and at last she said — and 
 the solemnity of her utterance for a moment 
 checked our tears — ' That for her sake, 
 and as he hoped for comfort to visit him in 
 his afflictions, she made it her last request 
 that, if ever ' (even then she was too tender 
 to say 'ever' agahi) 'if ever any poor 
 suffering human creature, sinking under 
 trials too great for human fortitude, should 
 lay down the burthen of wi'etchedness at 
 his feet, he would not close his heart or 
 turn away his ear from the petition.' 
 Saying this, she hid her face in Sir 
 IVIorgan's arms : strong convulsions again 
 came on : and, before the morning dew was 
 exhaled, she was once more at peace ; 
 
 ' And Nature rested from her work in death.' 
 
 " Thus did one night wither Sir Mor- 
 gan's ' palmy state ' of prosperity : thus 
 
WALLADMOR. 197 
 
 were his children torn away: thus died 
 lady Walladmor : and with her died all Sir 
 Morgan's happiness, and upon this earth all 
 his prospects of consolation. He was now 
 left with no companion ; none to comfort 
 him, or support him. After this, for some 
 years he shut up himself from all society, 
 except upon public occasions where he 
 appeared but as an official or ceremonial 
 person : but gradually the intreaties of his 
 friends, and the claims of his rank, drew 
 him back into the world : and then came 
 his lovely niece, Miss Walladmor ; and 
 with her again came something like joy to 
 Walladmor ; though but for a season ; for 
 that joy also was overcast." 
 
 " But did Sir Morgan," asked Bertram, 
 " never recover any traces of the pirates or 
 his lost children ? " 
 
 " There again his unhappy fate denied 
 him the last medicine to his grief Next 
 to the joy of recapturing his children, 
 would have been the consolation of knowing 
 
ISB WALLADMOR. 
 
 that they had perished. But, though that 
 was probable, it could never finally be ascer- 
 tained. The express, sent on to Liverpool, 
 found a frigate of 36 guns — the Nemesis — 
 lying in Hoylake. The Nemesis slipped 
 her cables, and went after the enemy. Her 
 hope was to intercept him before he reached 
 the Isle of Alan : but the Rattlesnake was 
 an excellent sailer, and had the lead. How- 
 ever on the second evening, off the Cum- 
 berland coast, between Ravenglass and 
 Whitehaven, the Nemesis got a sight of 
 her about two leagues ahead. A chace of 
 two hours more would have put her into 
 the possession of the frigate : but within 
 that time came on the great storm of 
 June 13th, which strewed the whole chan- 
 nel with \vrecks. The Nemesis was herself 
 obliged to run into IMaryport : and, as 
 nothing more was ever heard of the Rattle- 
 snake, it was presumed that she had found- 
 ered in that nremorable storm which was 
 fktal to so many ships better acquainted 
 
WALLADMOR. 199 
 
 with those seas. This was a point which 
 8ir ]M organ would have given a king's 
 ransom to establish. But unfortunately it 
 was never put beyond doubt : there w\as 
 still a possibility that she might have 
 executed her intention of going north about. 
 There was once a rumor afloat that she had 
 got into the Baltic : you may be sure that 
 every means, which Sir ]\Iorgan's vast 
 wealth and influence could command, w^as 
 put in motion to trace her in that region : 
 but all to no purpose : and perhaps Sir 
 JNIorgan would have been satisfied (as others 
 were) that tlie rumor had no foundation, 
 but for the hints and ambiguous expressions 
 dropped at times by Gillie Godber." 
 
 " You remind me seasonably," said Ber- 
 tram, " of a question which I had nearly 
 overlooked : why was not this fiendish 
 woman apprehended, and brought to trial ?" 
 
 " Of what service would that have been ? 
 Suppose that she had been convicted, and 
 transported — -that would only have removed 
 
200 WALLADMOll. 
 
 her from the knowledge of all who were on 
 the watch to take advantage of any disco- 
 veries she might make from carelessness or 
 craziness, or which she yet may make from 
 repentance on her death-hed." 
 
 " But at least she might have been 
 threatened with trial ? " 
 
 " She was : twice she was committed to 
 custody and underwent rigorous examina- 
 tions before a whole board of magistrates ; 
 but to what end ? She was as wild as the 
 sea, as intractable as the wind. What 
 threats, indeed, what voice, what sound — 
 except it were the sound of the last trumpet 
 wakening her from the grave — shall ever 
 again alarm her ? What cares she for 
 judge or jury ? The last sentence, that she 
 could fear, rang in her ears long years ago at 
 Walladmor. That dreadful voice, as it 
 sounded in the great hall of Walladmor 
 Castle when it gave up her blooming boy 
 to the scaffold, still sounds in her adder's 
 ear ; and it is deaf to all sounds beside." 
 
WALLADMOR. 201 
 
 " Yet siu'ely Sir Morgan must be dis- 
 tressed at seeing her : and yesterday " 
 
 " I know what you would say, Mr. Ber- 
 tram : yesterday you saw her walking freely 
 about the castle. True. But, for the piu*- 
 poses I have already explained, it is neces- 
 sary to give her free access to the castle ; 
 and she comes so seldom that she is now a 
 privileged person with licence to range where 
 she will. Nay, Sir Morgan would court her 
 hither with gifts — and rain bounties upon 
 her, if she would accept them. This desire 
 of having her before his eyes, Mr. Bertram, 
 is a fantastic and wayward expression of 
 misery — one of those tricks of sorrow — most 
 apt to haunt the noblest minds. Some 
 have worn about their persons the symbols, 
 the instriunents, or the mementos of their 
 guilt : and in i\Irs. Godber Sir Morgan sees 
 a living memorial of what he now deems 
 his crime and of its punishment ; a record 
 (as he says himself) of his own unpitying 
 heart — and of the bitter judgment that 
 recalled him to more merciful thoughts. 
 
202 WALLADMOll. 
 
 " I think him right :— in the Greek tra- 
 gedians, who sometimes teach us Christians 
 better morality than (I am sorry to say) we 
 teach ourselves, there is a sentiment often 
 repeated — which I dare say, Mr. Bertram, 
 you remember : it is to this effect, — That it 
 is ominous of evil to come — for any man to 
 express, by his words or acts, that he glories 
 in his own prosperity as though it were of 
 his own creation, or held by the tenure of 
 his own merits. Now this is in effect the 
 very crime of him that, being born of 
 woman, yet hardens his heart against the 
 prostrate supplications of a human brother 
 or sister. For how would he refuse to show 
 mercy, that did not think himself raised 
 above the possibility of needing it ? 
 
 " Yes, Sir Morgan is right ; his own sad 
 recollections tell him that he is ; and often 
 have I heard him say — That, from that 
 memorable moment when, looking back as 
 he ascended the great stair-case, he beheld 
 in the centre of his Ijall the unhappy 
 mother prostrate md writhing upon the 
 
WALLADMOn. 2 03 
 
 ground — read the pangs that were in her 
 face — and the curse that was in her eye, 
 from that moment he turned away like one 
 aheady reached by her vengeance ; and 
 never again had thought — moved — talked 
 — slept — or dreamed — as they think — 
 move — talk — sleep and dream that have 
 the blessedness of an untroubled conscience^ 
 and against whom no record is filed in the 
 courts of heaven on which are written the 
 tears of the afflicted or the crimes of the 
 despairing." 
 
WALLADMOR. 205 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Penthea. First his heart 
 
 Shall fall in cinders, scorch'd by your disdain, 
 Ere he will dare, poor man, to ope an eye 
 On these divine looks, but with low-bent thoughts 
 Accusing such presumption : as for words, 
 He dares not utter any but of service. 
 Yet this lost creature loves ye ! 
 
 Ford. The Broken Heart — Act 3. 
 
 At this moment the bugle of the ca- 
 valry called the attention of Mr. Williams 
 and Bertram : they were mounting in some 
 hurry, and leaving the castle upon private 
 intelligence just received by Sir Charles 
 Davenant. All that could be learned of the 
 occasion which summoned them on duty 
 was — that some attack, supposed to be 
 headed by Captain Nicholas, was this 
 evening meditated on a depot of horses 
 designed for remounting one troop of the 
 dragoons: this depot had been recently 
 formed in the neighbourhood of Wallad- 
 
20i WALLADMOR. 
 
 mor for the purpose of receiving horses 
 purchased at different fairs on the borders. 
 But with what design could Captain Ni- 
 cholas attack it? No doubt to mount a 
 party from some one or more of the various 
 smuggling vessels on the coast. " But 
 with what further end ? " asked Bertram : 
 *' or why, being under so serious a charge 
 — and a high reward offered for his appre- 
 hension, does he still linger in this neigh- 
 bourhood ? " 
 
 " I imagine," said Mr. Williams, '' that 
 the ordinary motives on which men are 
 careful of their lives are wanting to Captain 
 Nicholas, and have been for some time: 
 and just at this moment his old feelings of 
 jealousy, or rather of anxiety and irrita- 
 tion, are perhaps revived by the presence of 
 Sir Charles Davenant. — You are aware 
 probably that Sir Charles was formerly a 
 suitor of Miss Walladmor's, and rejected only 
 through the firmness of that lady ; for his 
 pretensions had tlie countenance and support 
 
WALLADMOR. 207 
 
 of all her friends. Apart from Sir Charles's 
 great expectations, which entitled him to 
 look as high, he was encom'aged by some 
 members of the family, not so much on his 
 own account as with a view of extinguishing 
 the hopes of Captain Nicholas ; of whose 
 long devotion to Miss Walladmor I pre- 
 sume that you must by this time have 
 heard." 
 
 " Some little I have heard," replied Ber- 
 tram; and some little I have collected from 
 my own observations and the benefit of 
 accident. Under what circumstances how- 
 ever this attachment commenced, or of its 
 history, I know absolutely nothing. I do 
 not even know who Captain Nicholas is : 
 nor can I form any reasonable conjecture 
 in what way or upon what pretensions a 
 person, connected with smugglers and peo- 
 ple of that class, could ever be led to aspire 
 to the favor of the heiress of Walladmor." 
 
 " Who Captain Nicholas is — you will 
 not find any body able to tell you : his 
 
208 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 origin is a mystery to all people, and him- 
 self amongst the number. But, as to his 
 connection with smugglers, that is but an 
 accident in his early life which he now 
 renews for temporary purposes^ as he has 
 done once or twice before. I acknowledo:e 
 that I take a good deal of interest in Caj)- 
 tain Nicholas : and Sir Morgan feels upon 
 that subject as I do. j\Iany circumstances 
 of great generosity in his conduct have at 
 times came to our knowledge; deep and 
 persevering love is itself a proof of some 
 nobility in a man's nature ; more especially 
 when it is nearly hopeless ; and where it is 
 certain that a man has refused all disho- 
 nourable means for aiding his own success. 
 Many times Captain Nicholas has had it in 
 his power to carry off Miss Walladmor to 
 sea, and at one time without any risk of 
 discovery. And, if that was not the way 
 to win the favor of a noble-minded woman, 
 still that a man so wildly educated should 
 feel that it was not — and that a despairing" 
 
WALLADMOR. 209 
 
 man should resist all temptations which 
 deep love and opportunity combined to 
 offer, imphes an elevation of mind w^hich 
 alone would have attracted some degree of 
 regard to Captain Nicholas : independently 
 of which he is a man of various accom- 
 plishments, great address, intrepidity, dig- 
 nified manners, and — -as I have heard — an 
 excellent officer both in the sea and land 
 services." 
 
 " But how came he first connected with 
 smugglers ; and what introduced him to 
 the notice of Miss Walladmor ? " 
 
 " All, that I know of his history, is this : 
 About eight years ago, when he was little 
 more than fifteen years old, he first ap- 
 peared on this coast in character of son, or 
 more properly (I believe) adopted son, of 
 Captain Donneraile who commanded a 
 large Dutch vessel of suspicious character, 
 which had long resorted to these seas. She 
 gave herself out for a regular merchantman, 
 but was pretty well understood to be a 
 
 VOL. II. P 
 
210 WALLADMOR. 
 
 smuggler as opportunities offered. Edward 
 Nicholas, as I have said, passed for the 
 Captain's son : and in that character, as 
 well as for his personal qualities, was much 
 looked up to by the crew. Such indeed 
 was the hardihood and romantic spirit of 
 enterprise with which he conducted the 
 difficult affairs sometimes confided to him — 
 that Captain Donneraile, who was old and 
 indolent, gradually allowed the command 
 of the ship to devolve on him ; and at the 
 age of sixteen he was much more the com- 
 mander of the vessel than the nominal 
 captain. This habit of early command 
 over a large and warlike crew, tempered by 
 good nature and great generosity of dispo- 
 sition, gave to his manners a tincture of 
 dignity much beyond his situation. These 
 manners and this disposition, united with 
 his fine person and countenance, concili- 
 ated the kind feelings of all about him ; 
 and he was a great favorite with the ship's 
 company as well as with the country people 
 
. WALLADMOl?. 211 
 
 on shore. Many of liis boyish exploits arc 
 current at this clay amongst them, — and his 
 affrays with the revenue officers, or hair- 
 breadth escapes from them, are still nar- 
 rated with interest. In all these however 
 beseemed rather to be amusing himself, than 
 like one who considered them as his regular 
 occupation. In the same spirit he attached 
 himself for a time to a company of strolhng 
 players. And that this w^as the just con- 
 struction of his temper and purposes — is 
 evident from the sequel. When he was 
 about eighteen, old Captain Donneraile 
 died, and left a considerable legacy toge- 
 ther with the ship of which he was sole 
 owner to Edward Nicholas. This ship, 
 and such of the crew as would follow him 
 to those climates, he canied to Soutl* 
 America, — and entered into the patriotic 
 service of one of the new republics in that 
 quarter of the world. There he rose to 
 considerable distinction, and at one time 
 commanded a frigate. Afterwards, under 
 p 2 
 
212 WALLADMOR. 
 
 some adverse circumstances attending the 
 naval administration, he transferred him- 
 self to the land service ; and served with 
 high reputation first as a partizan officer 
 in the guerrilla warfare, afterwards in the 
 regular cavalry. Some change of circum- 
 stances made it advisable to restore the 
 naval force ; and with the view of manning 
 a small flotilla with a proportion of picked 
 British seamen, he returned to the old 
 haunts of his youth in this country — hop- 
 ing to find it still the rendezvous of smug- 
 glers. This happened just four years and 
 a half ago ; and then it was that his con- 
 nexion commenced with Miss Walladmor 
 — a connexion which has since determined 
 the whole course of his life. 
 
 " jMiss Walladmor was at that time not 
 more than sixteen years old : she was ex- 
 quisitely beautiful ; and, though prema- 
 turely womanly in the developement of her 
 person, had yet an expression of almost 
 childlike innocence in her style of coun- 
 
VVALLADMOR. 213 
 
 tenance which made it peculiarly charming. 
 Edward Nicholas first saw her in the woods 
 of Tre Mawr from a situation where he 
 was himself unseen ; and so powerfully was 
 he fascinated that from that hour he aban- 
 doned all his schemes in South America. 
 Morning, noon, and night, he spent in 
 devising some means of introducing himself 
 to her notice : but love, where it is deep and 
 pure, is also timid — delicate — and reveren- 
 tial. Captain Nicholas, moreover, was aware 
 of Miss Walladmor's rank and expecta- 
 tions : these, on many accounts, as they 
 tended to misinterpret his motives, made 
 him shy of intruding himself upon her no- 
 tice. But at length chance did for him 
 what he could never have done for him- 
 self. In the woods of Tre Mawr ridings 
 are cut in all directions, and for many 
 miles : these, being on the Walladmor 
 domain and so near to the park, are consi- 
 dered part of the grounds ; and Miss Wal- 
 ladmor was accustomed to ride here almost 
 
214^ WALLADMOR. 
 
 daily without attendants. This was soon 
 discovered by Captain Nicholas, and he 
 lay concealed here whole days together with 
 the mere hope of seeing her for a moment. 
 On one of these occasions her horse stum- 
 bled over the root of a tree, and on re- 
 covering himself ran away : he was rapidly 
 carrying her into a situation of extreme 
 peril amongst the precipices of Ap Gauvon, 
 when Captain Nicholas, who was lurking 
 about on his usual errand, and saw the 
 whole from a distance, stept out from a 
 thicket as the horse approached — crossed 
 him — seized the rein — and saved her. This 
 was the best possible introduction : and all 
 the rest followed naturally. jMiss Wallad- 
 mor had every excuse: she w-as a mere 
 child, and quite inexperienced : Captain 
 Nicholas — who had from his youth been 
 placed in stations of command, and had just 
 come from a service in which as an Eng- 
 lishman he had been greatly respected and 
 admitted to intimacy with the staff of the 
 
WALLADMOR. 215 
 
 patriot army, — was distinguished by a re- 
 markable dignity of manners and deport- 
 ment : the style of his sentiments, natu- 
 rally lofty, was now exalted by love : and 
 finally he had in all probability saved Miss 
 Walladmor's life. These were strong ap- 
 peals to a young heart : doubtless it did 
 not weaken them that the noble expression 
 of his countenance was then embellished 
 by the graces of early youth (for he was not 
 twenty), and yet unsaddened by internal 
 suffering — which has since given him the 
 look of a person older than he really is. 
 Above all perhaps there pleaded for him in 
 Miss Walladmor's heart — that which must 
 always plead powerfully with a woman of 
 virtuous sensibilities — the display which 
 every look, word, and gesture, made of his 
 profound and passionate devotion. " Ne- 
 ver " indeed (to quote our great poet, Mr. 
 Bertram) — 
 
 never did young man fancy 
 
 With so eternal and so fix'd a soul : " * 
 
 He hallowed the very air she breathed ; 
 
 * TroUus and f ressida. 
 
216 WALLADMOK. 
 
 doated on the very hem of her garments ; 
 worshipped the very ground she trod on. 
 This child, this innocent child (for she was 
 no more), guided the wild ungovernable 
 creature as absolutely and as easily as a 
 mother guides her infant : and, if Captain 
 Nicholas had always been under such 
 guidance, no tongue (as I will warrant) 
 would ever have had any cause to make 
 free with his name : there is no such a safe- 
 guard in this world to a young man under 
 the temptations which life presents as deep 
 love for a virtuous woman. The misery is — 
 that for every thousand such women there 
 is hardly one man capable of such a love. 
 No: men in this respect are brutal crea- 
 tures. 
 
 " But to return to i\Iiss Walladmor : you 
 will not wonder that, under the circum- 
 stances I have mentioned, she did not dis- 
 continue her rides in the woods of Tre 
 ]\Iawr : child as she was, her own heart told 
 her that, from a man animated by love so 
 tender and profound, she could no more 
 
WALLADMOR. 217 
 
 have any thing to fear than she could from 
 any third person whilst under his protection. 
 Hence she did not refuse to meet him: 
 and, for more than a year and a half, they 
 carried on a clandestine correspondence. 
 Clandestine I call it with regard to the 
 mode in which it was conducted, and with 
 regard to Sir Morgan Walladmor : for else 
 it was known to all the country beside. 
 How it was that nobody spoke of it to Sir 
 Morgan, I cannot say : you will wonder that 
 I did not. The truth is — that, when it 
 came to my knowledge, it was too late (as 
 I saw) to interfere without misery to both 
 parties, and ruin to one. The chief objec- 
 tions to the connexion were of course the 
 want of adequate rank and prospects on the 
 part of Captain Nicholas, and the uncer- 
 tainty of his birth. These, in any common 
 case, were no doubt sufficient objections : 
 still, as Captain Nicholas had raised himself 
 at so very early an age to the rank of a 
 gentleman, I did not see that they were 
 
218 WALLADMOR. 
 
 insuperable : or, however valid against such 
 an attachment in its first origin, were less 
 entitled to attention when it had reached 
 its present stage. 
 
 " Miss Walladmor w^as nearly eighteen, 
 when Sir Morgan came to know of the 
 affair. He was grieved, and seemed to 
 view it as one of the judgments upon him- 
 self, but did not express any displeasure. 
 Just about that time Sir Charles Davenant 
 was introduced to Miss Walladmor in the 
 character of suitor. From the first she 
 declined his addresses with a firmness that 
 should naturally have at once discouraged a 
 man of his discernment. But he had en- 
 couragement from other quarters : — Sir 
 ]\Iorgan gave him no encouragement ; but 
 others amongst Miss Walladmor's relatives 
 did. Edward Nicholas was too noble to 
 harbour so mean a passion as jealousy : still 
 he trembled for the effect of a long persecu- 
 tion upon so gentle a nature as ]\Jiss Wal- 
 ladmor's : but in this he was wrong : for, 
 
WALLADMOK. 219 
 
 though the gentlest of creatures, she is one 
 of the firmest in any point which she con- 
 ceives essential to her honor. And this he 
 now found unhappily in a case too nearly 
 affecting himself. 
 
 " All at once many stories of outrages, 
 scandalous and even bloody acts, were 
 revived against the company of smugglers 
 with whom Captain Nicholas had passed 
 his youth : and with these stories the name 
 of Edward Nicholas, as the name of their 
 leader, was studiously coupled. Both JMiss 
 Walladmor and her lover being generally 
 favourites amongst the country people about 
 Walladmor, it was a matter of some wonder 
 to me whence such stories, which were 
 clearly devised for their persecution, could 
 arise ; and at length I traced them to 
 Gillie Godber. However they got into 
 some circulation ; and, now that the rank 
 of Miss Walladmor and the universal in- 
 terest in the romantic part of the story had 
 drawn the attention of the county and the 
 
220 WALLADMOR. 
 
 whole local gentry upon the character of 
 Edward Nicholas, they could not but affect 
 his pretensions very disadvantageously with 
 all Miss Walladmor's connexions. With 
 the sincerity of real love, Captain Nicholas 
 had not concealed from Miss Walladmor 
 the circumstances of his early education 
 amongst smugglers and sea-rovers : but 
 these she justly regarded as the palliations 
 of any youthful levities he might have com- 
 mitted, and as his great misfortune, and 
 not as any part of his offences. Neither 
 had he concealed the obscurity of his birth ; 
 so that, with regard to that, she had 
 nothing to leam. The worst part of the 
 charges, as it soon came out, were easily 
 repelled by the mere dates of the transac- 
 tions to which they referred : of all tlie 
 cruel and bloody part every man, who 
 knew his nature, acquitted him ; for, how- 
 soever he may choose to talk ferociously 
 since he has become desperate, he has 
 nothing cruel in his disposition. But, when 
 
WALLADMOU. 221 
 
 these were disposed of, there still remained 
 many wild infractions of law which left a 
 taint behind, such as ought not to attach 
 to the name of him who was a candidate 
 for Miss Walladmor's hand. If Miss Wal- 
 ladmor in the tenderness of her affection 
 steadily refused to believe these stories, 
 others (she saw) did not. Something was 
 due to her family ; and to Sir Morgan, the 
 head of it, more especially, from the unH- 
 mited confidence he had reposed in her dis- 
 cretion. However it were palliated by his 
 extreme youth and the connexions upon 
 which his misfortunes had thrown him, still 
 some part of what had been alleged against 
 Captain Nicholas appeared to be true : for 
 even, with such an interest at stake, the 
 nobility of his mind would not stoop 
 to the meanness of falsehood. Miss Wal- 
 ladmor was greatly shocked ; suffered much 
 in mind and in health; and discovered 
 in her countenance the agitations to which 
 she was now a prey. She knew, she could 
 
22^2 WAM.ADMOR. 
 
 not but know, that she was consigning him 
 to despair : her woman's lieart relented 
 again and again in behalf of the man who 
 had loved her so long and so fervently : but 
 at length she told him calmly and yet 
 firmly that it was necessary tliey should 
 part. Wliatever she could do by tender- 
 ness of manner to mitigate the bitterness of 
 this parting— she did ; her affections, there 
 was no need to tell him, were wholly his : 
 and she assured him that, if he would in 
 any way efface the stains upon his name, 
 her heart should remember only his mis- 
 fortunes. 
 
 " But in what way was he to do this ? 
 He was a friendless man for any views of 
 advancement in England : any thing he 
 might do in South America, would avail 
 him little at home : and thus, being without 
 hope, he became frantic — and began to 
 tamper with criminal enterprizes. 
 
 " What follows is still more painful ; nor 
 am I accurately acquainted with the parti- 
 
WALI.ADMOR. 223 
 
 culars. Political disturbances at that time 
 prevailed in various parts of the country ; 
 amongst others, in this. These he fo- 
 mented; and, according to the charges 
 against him, committed some overt acts of 
 treason. The best excuse for him, over 
 and above that general excuse which applies 
 to all that he has done since his parting 
 with jMisB Walladmor, namely, his state of 
 utter distraction (some say positive aberra- 
 tion) of mind, — the best excuse for him, I 
 say, in all his political conduct, is this ; that, 
 having lived so much of his life in foreign 
 and convulsed states of society, where every 
 body was engaged in active hostilities to 
 some party or other that was — had been— r- 
 or pretended to be the government, he had 
 not been trained to look with much horror 
 on a charge which he has heard so much 
 tossed about as that of treason : in fact he 
 thinks of it with more levity than you can 
 imagine. I may add that, having seen so 
 little comparatively of England, he is really 
 
224 WALLADMOR. 
 
 under the greatest delusions as to our true 
 political state — and does sincerely believe 
 in the existence of oppressions which are 
 altogether imaginary. This must be borne 
 in mind in speaking of what remains. 
 After the disturbances were quelled in this 
 neighbourhood, he escaped ; went to South 
 America ; served again in various quarters 
 of that agitated continent ; but was still 
 pursued by his old distraction of mind in 
 regard to IVIiss Walladmor ; came back ; 
 connected himself, it is said, with some of 
 those who were parties to the Cato-street 
 conspiracy : I know not how, or with what 
 result. He talks of himself as though he 
 had shared in all their designs : but he 
 often talks worse of himself than he deserves; 
 and government have certainly abandoned 
 the Cato-street charges against him: though, 
 if he were taken, he would still be tried on 
 those which arise out of his transactions in 
 this county." 
 
 " But with what purpose," said Bertram, 
 
WALLADMOR. 225 
 
 " can he linger in this neighbourliood, 
 where his haunts and his person are so well 
 known — that it is impossible he can long 
 escape apprehension ? " 
 
 " Still, no doubt, as heretofore, from the 
 blindness and infirmity of his passion for 
 i\Iiss Walladmor : merely to see her — is 
 perhaps some relief to his unhappy mind : 
 that however is a gratification he can seldom 
 have ; for she now rarely stirs out of the 
 castle. His old anxieties too may be again 
 awakened by the re-appearance of Sir 
 Charles Davenant at Walladmor. Then, 
 as to the intimacy of his connexions with 
 this neighbourhood, you must remember 
 that, if that exposes him to some risque, he 
 is also indebted to it for much kindness and 
 assistance. Just now indeed, when the 
 smugglers are returned to this coast, what 
 with the open assistance he receives from 
 them, and the underhand support and con- 
 nivance he meets with from the country 
 
 VOL. II. Q 
 
226 WAI.I>ADMOR. 
 
 people, he contrives effectually to baffle the 
 pursuit of the police." 
 
 At this moment a sound swelled upon 
 the wind : Bertram and Mr. Williams were 
 looking down from the battlements upon 
 the park : and in a few seconds a herd of 
 deer rushed past with the noise of thunder ; 
 and shortly after the heavy gallop of two 
 bodies of horse, one in pursuit of the other, 
 advanced in the direction of the castle. It 
 was bright moonlight. About two hundred 
 yards from the walls, some smart skirmish- 
 ing took place : random discharges of pistols 
 and carbines succeeded at intervals; the 
 broad swords of the cavalry, and the cut- 
 lasses of sailors, could be distinguished 
 gleaming in the moonlight : and it became 
 evident that the party under Captain Ni- 
 cholas had fallen in with Sir Charles 
 Davenant somewhere in the neighbourhood, 
 and were now retreating before him. The 
 smugglers, it was pretty clear, had been 
 
WALLA l):MOI?. 227 
 
 taken at great disadvantage ; for they were 
 in extreme disorder when they first appeared 
 — being wholly unfitted by the state of 
 their equipments and horses for meeting a 
 body of dragoons so superbly mounted and 
 appointed. Their horses, though of the 
 hardy mountain breed, wanted weight and 
 bulk to oppose any sort of resistance to the 
 momentum of the heavy dragoon horses — 
 and were utterly untrained to any combined 
 movement. It was obviously on this con- 
 sideration that Edward Nicholas, v/hose 
 voice was now heard continually giving 
 words of command, had drawn his party to 
 this point where the broken ground neu- 
 trahzed in a great measure the advantages 
 of the dragoons. He was now upon ground 
 every inch of which he knew ; in which 
 respect he had greatly the advantage of Sir 
 Charles Davenant; and he availed himself 
 of it so as to draw off his own party, and to 
 distress thecavalry. From the point at which 
 Q 2 
 
i22S WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 they had Just heen skirmishing, a long 
 range of rocky and sylvan scenery com- 
 menced which traversed the park for miles; 
 and upon this Captain Nicholas now began 
 to wheel in tolerably good order, showing 
 at times a bold front to his enemy. This 
 movement drew them away from the castle : 
 but the character of the retreat continued 
 to be apparent for some ti«fie. At inter- 
 vals the two parties were entangled in rocks 
 and bushy coverts. On ground of this 
 character, the dragoons were much dis- 
 tressed by their horses falling, and were 
 thus checked and crippled in their move- 
 ments ; whilst the sure-footed mountaineers 
 of the smugglers advanced with freedom. 
 Suddenly the whole body, pursuers and 
 pursued, would be swallowed up by a 
 gloomy grove of pines ; suddenly again all 
 emerged with gleaming arms upon little 
 island spots of lawny areas, where the moon- 
 light fell bright and free. Whenever a 
 favourable interspace of this character 
 
WALLADMOI?. 229 
 
 occurred, the dragoons endeavoured to form 
 and use the advantage it presented for 
 effecting a charge. But the address of 
 Edward Nicholas, who was an excellent 
 cavalry officer, and far more experienced in 
 this kind of guerrilla warfare than his 
 antagonist, — together with the short inter- 
 vals during which the ground continued 
 favourable for charges, and his minute 
 knowledge of its local details, — uniformly 
 defeated the efforts of the dragoons, and 
 protected the retreat of his own party until 
 they were gradually lost in the distance and 
 the shades of those great sylvan recesses, 
 which ran up far into the hilly tract upon 
 which their movement had been continually 
 directed. 
 
 Late in the evening the dragoons returned 
 to the castle: they had suffered a good deal 
 on the difficult ground to which they had 
 allowed themselves to be attracted by 
 Captain Nicholas ; fifteen being reported as 
 wounded severely, and several horses shot. 
 
230 WALl.ADJMOIl. 
 
 They Iiad however defeated the object of 
 Captain Nicholas, which was (agreeably to 
 tlie secret information) to possess himself 
 of the horses in the depot; with what 
 ultimate view, they were still left to con- 
 jecture. 
 
 That this was simply some final effort 
 of desperation, it was easy to judge from 
 wliat followed. A little before midnight 
 on this same evening Captain Nicholas 
 appeared at the castle-gate, and surren- 
 dered himself prisoner to the soldiers on 
 guard ; at the same time desiring one of 
 them to carry a note to Sir Morgan 
 Walladmor. In this note he requested an 
 interview with Sir IMorgan for a few 
 moments, which was immediately granted : 
 Captain Nicholas was conducted to the 
 library ; and the guard, who attended him, 
 directed to wait on the outside. 
 
 Edward Nicholas began by adverting 
 rapidly to his own former connexion with 
 ]\Iiss Walladmor. This had been broken 
 
WALLADMOK. 231 
 
 up: he blamed nobody for that: it was 
 but one part of the general misfortune 
 which had clouded his life. Now however, 
 on returning to Merionethshire after a long 
 absence, and with the constant prospect of 
 being soon consigned to a prison, he had 
 been particularly anxious for an opportunity 
 of meeting and speaking to IMiss Wallad- 
 mor: he had accordingly written to her 
 repeatedly, but had received no answer. 
 This silence on the part of Miss Walladmor, 
 so little in harmony with her general good- 
 ness, happening to coincide with the visit 
 of Sir Charles Davenant to Walladmor, 
 had raised suspicions in his mind that it 
 was to some influence of his that he must 
 ascribe the continued neglect of his appli- 
 cations to Miss Walladmor. He feared 
 that Sir Charles was renewing his pretensions 
 to INIiss Walladmor's hand. Hence he had 
 taken his resolution, as he would frankly 
 avow, to force his way into the castle — and 
 supplicate Miss Walladmor to grant him 
 
282 WALLADMOR. 
 
 an opportunity of speaking to her in private 
 before it was too late for him to hope it. 
 Such a plan obliged him, as his first step, 
 to attack the dragoons. To do this with 
 effect lie wanted horses ; and he had there- 
 fore arranged a plan for possessing himself 
 of the horses at the depot : in what way 
 this plan had become known to Sir Charles 
 Davenant, he could not guess. Having 
 however been thus prematurely discovered, 
 it was now finally defeated. Hence, as 
 a man now careless of life, and without 
 hope, he wished to surrender himself to 
 government on the charges of high treason 
 alleged against him. He had abundant 
 means of escape, or of indefinitely delaying 
 this surrender : but to what purpose ? To 
 stay here was of necessity to fall into the 
 hands of government. To escape was to 
 be self-banished from the neighbourhood 
 of Miss Walladmor, and all chance of 
 ever seeing her ; without which fe had 
 long ceased to be of any value to him. — 
 
WALLADMOK. 233 
 
 He concluded by assuring Sir Morgan that 
 to confine him in any other place than 
 Walladmor Castle would be to expose 
 him to certain rescue; and at the same 
 time to cause needless bloodshed, if it was 
 attempted to strengthen any of the weak 
 prisons in the neighbourhood by a guard of 
 soldiers. 
 
 Sir Morgan Walladmor could not but 
 accept his surrender, as it was thus delibe- 
 rately tendered. And, mitil the pleasure 
 of government were known, he ordered 
 the rooms of the Falcon Tower to be pre- 
 pared with every accommodation for Captain 
 Nicholas.' — At the same time Sir Morgan's 
 countenance testified the pity and concern 
 which he felt for the prisoner: for to a man 
 of his discerning sensibility it was evident 
 that it was the last infirmity of love, and 
 the mere craziness of a doating heart, that 
 had driven him to surrender himself. If 
 in no other way he could reach Miss Wal- 
 Lidmor's neighbourhood, it seemed that he 
 
St[^i AVALLADMOR. 
 
 was determined to reach it in the character 
 of prisoner. To every door that he passed 
 on his road to the Falcon Tower he looked 
 with a wild keenness of eye, in the hope 
 that he might ohtain some glimpse of her. 
 And, fantastic as such comfort seemed, the 
 unhappy prisoner felt a deep joy even in 
 his solitary prison on feeling that for the 
 first time in his life he was passing the 
 night under the same roof with Miss 
 AValladmor. 
 
WALLADMOR. 235 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The wheel is come full circle ! — Kbig Lear, Act. V. 
 
 At length the time is arrived when 
 Edward Nicholas is to be tried for his life 
 on the charge of high treason. Within a 
 
 ortnight after his surrender, a Special 
 Commission was sent down to try him ; and 
 
 he trial is to take place at the county 
 town of Dolgelly.* At an early hour, Ber- 
 tram, who had slept in Dolgelly, presented 
 himself at the door of the court-house : 
 early as it was, however, he found the 
 entrance already thronged by a crowd un- 
 usually numerous for so unpopulous a 
 neighbourhood. Amongst them were many 
 women, grieving by anticipation that the 
 
 * Harlech, if we remember, is the true county town of Merio- 
 nethsliire : but, Dolgclly being the larger and more central place, 
 if a man has any county bubinctjs (for example, if he wanl:^ 
 hanging or -lO) he goco to Dolgelly- 
 
236 WALLADMOR. 
 
 cruel thunders of the law should descend, 
 for charges so frivolous as high treason, 
 upon this young and accomplished soldier — 
 whose fine person, winning manners, and 
 chivalrous protection of women in many 
 desperate affrays of the smugglers, had 
 gained him all female hearts far and near in 
 Merionethshire. There were also some 
 fierce faces in the crowd — of smugglers and 
 freebooters : amongst these Bertram recog- 
 nized several of his friends from the Fleurs- 
 de-lys ; and at their head stood Captain le 
 Harnois, who appeared to have recovered 
 surprizingly from his ' consumption,' and 
 was at this moment surrounded by several 
 of his own ' mourners.' Bertram moved as 
 near as he could to the captain, whom he 
 perceived to be in conversation with some 
 person immediately in advance, and lurk- 
 ing from general view under the over- 
 shadowing bulk of the noble captain's massy 
 figure. 
 
 " IVIutCs your name, do you say ? '* 
 
WALLADMOT^. 237 
 
 asked the captain, lowering his ear, " Bil- 
 berry?" 
 
 " Dulberry, I say," replied the other 
 angrily : " Samuel Dulberry, late twist 
 manufacturer in Manchester." 
 
 " Dulberry is it ? Why, Dulberry, then : 
 what, man ! I'll not rob you of it. Now, 
 Dulberry, I'll tell you what : you're in 
 
 luck ; you've not got such a d d hulk 
 
 of a body to take care of as I have. You'll 
 do all the better for a gimblet. So mind 
 now, Dulberry : as soon as the door opens, 
 take your head in your hands and begin to 
 bore with it. You shall be the wedge : I'll 
 be the mallet. Never you look behind : 
 I'll take care of all that. Mind your own 
 duty ; once bore a hole for me, and my 
 name's not le Harnois if I don't send you 
 ' home.' " 
 
 Though Mr. Dulberry could not perhaps 
 wholly approve of the captain's rather 
 authoritative tone, nor of the captain's 
 figures of speech, which, to a man who had 
 
238 WALLADMOR. 
 
 read Blackstone, seemed a little too much 
 to confound the distmctions of ' things ' 
 and ' persons/ — yet, as he saw the benefits 
 of such an arrangement, he made no objec- 
 tion, but submitted to act in the humble 
 relation of screw to a screw-driver — or, to 
 keep to the captain s image, submitted to 
 be " driven home " as a nail by the great 
 hammer of Captain le Harnois. 
 
 He began immediately by breaking a 
 weak phalanx of women, who sought to re- 
 unite in his rear ; but they found that they 
 must first of all circumnavigate the great 
 rock of Captain le Harnois ; and, long before 
 that could be effected, so many of the 
 Fleurs-de-lys' people pressed after in the 
 captain's wake that this confluence of the 
 female bisections never took place. In a 
 moment after the doors of the court opened ; 
 a rush took place ; Bertram was carried in 
 by the torrent ; and in half a minute found 
 himself comfortably lodged in an elevated 
 corner. From this he overlooked the court, 
 
WALLADMOR. 239 
 
 and he could perceive that the captain had 
 well performed his promise of driving iVfr. 
 Dulberry home : the reformer was advanced 
 to the very utmost verge of the privileged 
 space, and obliged to support himself 
 against the pressure behind by clasping a 
 pillar : as the captain in turn clasped Mr. 
 Dulberry, and enfolded him, as one box in 
 a ' nest ' of boxes is made to inclose 
 another, the poor reformer's station was an 
 unhappy one : and, though he had quietly 
 submitted to the captain so long as their 
 joint interests were concerned in supporting 
 him, it was clear to Bertram from the 
 fierce looks of the reformer, as he kept 
 turning round his head, that this ' nestling' 
 of Captain le Harnois was now taking his 
 revenge, by reading to that arbitrary person 
 a most rigorous lecture on the bill of rights. 
 It was equally clear that the captain was 
 in rueful perplexity as to Mr. Dulberry 's 
 meaning ; not knowing whether to under- 
 stand his jargon, so wholly new to himself. 
 
240 WAIJ.AD]\rOR. 
 
 as bearing a warlike or an amorous cha- 
 racter — those being the two sole categories 
 or classifications of the noble captain's 
 whole stock of ideas. Luckily, to prevent 
 any quarrel between parties so interested in 
 maintaining a good understanding as the 
 screw and the screw-driver, betting com- 
 menced at this time in very loud terms on 
 various contingencies of the approaching 
 trial.* Ten guineas to ten were offered 
 freely that the prisoner was acquitted, but 
 found few^ takers. Mr, Didberry said that 
 
 ♦ This is a satiric hit of the German author at an English 
 foible which cannot be denied : we wish no nation that we could 
 mention had worse. That the satire in this case however is not 
 carried beyond the limits of probability — is evident from the fol- 
 lowing paragraph which appeared in many of the morning papers 
 during the third week of last October : 
 
 ""'It is scarcely credible, and yet we are positively assured of 
 the fact, that bets to a large amount are depending upon the 
 issue of Mr. Fauntleroy's trial ; and that the books of some of the 
 frequenters of Tattersall's and the One Tun, are not less occu- 
 pied with wagers upon the fate of a fellow-creature than with 
 those upon tlie Oaks, Derby, and St. Leger. To persons who 
 are not aware of the brutalizing effect of gambling upon the 
 mind, this circumstance will be a matter of astonishment ; and 
 even the more experienced can scarcely view with indifference so 
 gross an outrage on common decency." 
 
WALLADMOR. 241 
 
 he would have taken it if the jury had not 
 been packed. Three to four that the trial 
 wfis over before twelve o'clock ; — this was 
 taken cautiously. Ten to seven that Mr. 
 
 Justice did r?ot yawn six times before 
 
 the peroration of il\lr. Sergeant ■ (who 
 
 led for the crown) ; this was taken pretty 
 freely. A thousand to one that the pri- 
 soner did not show the white feather ; in 
 spite of the immense odds, this was not 
 listened to ; so generally was the prisoner's 
 character established for imperturbable 
 firmness. 
 
 At this moment a general buz announced 
 the commencement of some profounder 
 interest : a trampling of horses outside 
 announced the arrival of Captain Nicholas 
 with his escort from Walladmor. Bertram 
 closed his eyes from the shock which he 
 anticipated at the sight of the prisoner ; 
 and, when he next opened them, the court 
 was set, the prisoner was placed at the bar, 
 and his arraignment opened in the cus- 
 
 VOL. II. R 
 
242 WALLADMOR. 
 
 tomary form for levying war against our 
 sovereia:n lord the kino-. 
 
 All present were interested more or less 
 by the striking appearance and serene 
 deportment of the prisoner. His face ap- 
 peared to Bertram somewhat more faded 
 and care-worn than when he had last seen 
 him : hut on the whole it bore the marks 
 of fine animal health and spirits, struggling 
 severely with some internal suffering of 
 mind. 
 
 The trial proceeded in the usual manner, 
 but with unusual rapidity, as the prisoner 
 challenged none of the jury, nor called any 
 witnesses. The crown lawyers painted the 
 prisoner's guilt in the most alarming colours ; 
 insisting much on his extraordinary talents 
 both military and civil as a leader in popular 
 tumults. The witnesses deposed with toler- 
 able consistency to his having tampered 
 with them for purposes connected with some 
 design upon Harlech castle. The capture 
 of one outwork of Harlech was estabhshed. 
 
WALLADMOK. 243 
 
 And at length the prisoner was called on 
 for his defence. 
 
 With his usual self-possession, and with 
 an air of extreme good humour except when 
 he had occasion to speak of the counsel who 
 opened the case, Captain Nicholas spoke as 
 follows : 
 
 " My lord, and gentlemen of the jury, — I 
 should be sorry to treat with levity any 
 charge which I see that you treat with 
 solemnity. The charge of treason is here, 
 I find, a very grave one : though elsewhere 
 I have known it as common and as trivial 
 as assault and battery. However, be that 
 as it may, I trust there can be no offence in 
 my noticing without much gravity the 
 attempt of the learned gentleman who 
 opened the case for the crown to aggravate 
 the matter against me by representing that 
 I had engaged in an enterprize which had 
 shaken the king of England on his throne. 
 
 " Shake the king of England upon his 
 throne ! gentlemen, I have not that vanity : 
 r2 
 
244 WALLADMOE. 
 
 and you must excuse my laughing a little. 
 I am well assured that it was never in my 
 power nor that of much more potent persons 
 to alarm so great a prince. We all know 
 that, if the kings of this earth were to 
 assemble in council, they would find it hard 
 to devise that message which could make a 
 king of England turn pale. As to Harlech, 
 you gentlemen of the jury well know what 
 Harlech is. A bathing place on the coast, 
 not far from Harlech,* I mean Barmouth, 
 is said to have a little resemblance to 
 Gibraltar ; a X)ery little, I think : but, as 
 to Harlech, I can assure you that it has 
 none at all : it is as unlike Gibraltar as it 
 is possible for any castle to be — wlicthcr as 
 to fortifications or garrison. The fortifica- 
 tions run more hazard every month from 
 treasonable west winds than ever they did 
 from me ; and, as to the garrison, it musters 
 (I think) or did muster at that time sixteen 
 invalids. I will not say that the west wind 
 is as full of peril to them, for I think it will 
 
WALLADMOR. 245 
 
 take an east wind to affect them seriously : 
 but this I venture to affirm, that, with five 
 such Enghsh seamen as I once seduced from 
 his Britannic majestj^'s ship Bellerophon, 
 for a certain patriot service in South Ame- 
 rica, I would undertake to make myself 
 master of Harlech castle in ten minutes ; 
 and yet, gentlemen, I doubt not but 
 the king of England could have found five 
 other men in his service that would have 
 singed our beards and perhaps retaken it in 
 twenty minutes. 
 
 " My lord, I see that you disapprove of 
 this style in a prisoner on his defence. Let 
 me say then at once — that, though I pay 
 every respect to the king of so great a nation, 
 and would have been proud to have held a 
 commission under his majesty, yet, as I do 
 not hold one, nor ever did, I think it can 
 scarcely be said that I owe him any duty, 
 or can have committed any treason against 
 him. It is my vanity to call myself an 
 Englishman : and I sometimes believe that 
 
246 WALLADMOR. 
 
 I am one. But I am sure that is more of 
 my free love to England, than of any claim 
 which England can show to my services. 
 For I have lived, from the earliest time I 
 can rememher, chiefly upon the sea ; pos- 
 sihly was horn there : and that I speak 
 English as my native language cannot prove 
 me an Englishman ; for I speak Spanish 
 and Portuguese as fluently. So far from 
 having received any favours from England, 
 or the king of England — I protest that his 
 Britannic majesty is almost the only great 
 potentate in the Christian world to whom 
 at one time or other I have not sworn alle- 
 giance. For so young a man this may seem 
 a bold assertion : but the truth is — I have 
 borne arms from my childish days ; have 
 seen a good deal of land service : and, as to 
 naval service, my unhappy lot having 
 thrown me so early upon the society of 
 sea-rovers, I have positively sailed under tlie 
 flag of every maritime state in Christendom. 
 I cannot see, therefore, how I can be viewed 
 
WALLADMOR. 247 
 
 as an English subject : and if I were to 
 allow myself the magnilicent language 
 adopted by my learned enemy who opened 
 the case for the crown, I might rather 
 claim to be considered as a foreign power 
 making unsuccessful war upon the king of 
 England in his castle of Harlech, and now 
 taken prisoner in my final invasion of his 
 territories. In that case, the learned gen- 
 tleman will recollect that — if I should 
 escape from this court by the verdict of the 
 jury, I shall have a right to consider him as 
 an ally of that great prince, and to treat 
 him accordingly by land or sea. 
 
 " But I am slipping back into that style 
 by which I was sorry to perceive that I 
 gave offence before. I must apologize by 
 charging it upon the example set me by 
 the learned counsel, who should better 
 .understand the proper style for a court of 
 justice than 1 can be supposed to do. I 
 was endeavouring to show that I am not 
 properly a subject of his Britannic majesty's ; 
 
248 WALLADMOR. 
 
 or, if I am, it is more than either he or I 
 can be sure of. To this I shall add two 
 remarks : first, that I was bred up among 
 pirates — and not trained to any respect for 
 the institutions or law of civil societies : a 
 circumstance which I would wish to have 
 its weight — not, gentlemen, in your verdict, 
 but in the judgments which charitable men 
 shall hereafter pronounce upon my charac- 
 ter. Secondly, whereas the learned gen- 
 tleman in the silk gown insinuated that I 
 w^as familiar with murderers, and that I 
 looked with indifference upon shedding 
 human blood — this insinuation, gentlemen 
 of the jury, I am sure you will not regard ; 
 for notliing has appeared this day in evi- 
 dence to support any charge of that kind — 
 which, as a soldier of an honourable repub- 
 lic, I repel with indignation. Except in 
 battle, or in self-defence, I have never shed 
 any human blood. And, if I did not fear 
 to be misinterpreted in one quarter where I 
 would blush to speak of any thing I had 
 
WALLADMOR. 249 
 
 (lone (though it had been a thousand times 
 more) as pretending to the value of a ser- 
 vice — I might produce cases even in this 
 country where I have saved the lives of 
 others at some hazard to my own. But I 
 forbear ; and leave this to be of service to 
 my memory rather than to my cause in this 
 court. 
 
 " With that view it is that I have made 
 these two last statements : I press them 
 upon your attention by no means as a pri- 
 soner at the bar, but as a man who is not 
 insensible, both on his own account and for 
 their sakes who have honoured him with 
 some portion of their regard, to the opinion 
 which may be hereafter formed of his cha- 
 racter. The first is a consideration which 
 certainly will have its weight with all the 
 candid : the second is at least as valid as 
 the insinuation to which it applies : it is 
 the only sort of defence which it is possible 
 for me to make to a calumny so general 
 and uncircumstantial. 
 
250 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen, let me say in conclu- 
 sion why I do not urge any thing to influ- 
 ence your verdict. In point of law, so far 
 as I have collected it from the speeches of 
 the learned counsel, it would he impossible 
 to say any thing to the pm-pose. The 
 question you have to decide upon, I under- 
 stand to be this ; whether I did or did not 
 levy war upon his Majesty's garrison of 
 sixteen firelocks and his castle of Harlech. 
 Since the date of the Harlech war I have 
 been present in South America in so many 
 enterprises, even more desperate, that I 
 cannot pretend to recal every circumstance : 
 I am apt to confound them with one ano- 
 ther. But the general fact of this expedi- 
 tion against Harlech I think the witnesses 
 for the crown have established tolerabl^y 
 well. Some of them indeed gave their 
 evidence in rather unmilitary language, and 
 seemed to be unduely impressed with the 
 magnitude of that war : but their meaning 
 was good ! and their dates, I dare say, al 
 
WALLADMOR. 251 
 
 perfectly correct. I am sure I have no 
 witnesses to call on my part that could 
 shake either their history, their chronology, 
 their geography, or in fact any one thing 
 that is theirs — excepting always their mar- 
 tial tactics, which certainly are susceptible 
 of improvement. As to cross-examining 
 them, or any thing of that sort, — 1 am 
 sure they all want to dine : and I would be 
 sony to leave an uncharitable impression of 
 myself amongst so many respectable yeo- 
 men, by detaining them under such cir- 
 cumstances. And, gentlemen of the jury, 
 if you will excuse me as a soldier for jesting 
 with you at parting, I am sure that you 
 also wish to be out hunting on such a fine 
 day as this. And I will acknowledge that 
 I should myself be disposed to view a 
 prisoner's case as very atrocious who kept 
 me needlessly in court in such weather as 
 this. As to the learned counsel, their hunt 
 is in the court : and undoubtedly, by mak- 
 ing so few doubles, I have afforded them 
 
252 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 but poor sport. I shall not even take 
 exception to the name by which I am 
 indicted. Bnt the lawyers (though I feel 
 for them also) are the minority in this 
 court. And besides they have as little 
 power to save me, as the learned gentle- 
 man in the silk gown apparently has the 
 will. You it is, gentlemen of the jury, 
 that are the arbiters of my fate : and, if I 
 wished to gain a favourable verdict from 
 you, I conceive (as I said before) that in so 
 hopeless a case as mine I could take no 
 more rational course towards that end than 
 by giving you as little trouble as possible. 
 
 " But, gentlemen, in conclusion I will tell 
 you that I do riot wish for a favourable 
 verdict ; and, if I did, 1 should not be 
 here : for I have had it in my power to 
 escape a hundred times over. The truth 
 is — lest any man should misunderstand me 
 as though it were an evil conscience or 
 vicious habits that had made me weary of 
 life at so early an age, — the truth is brieily 
 
WALLADMOR. 253 
 
 this : and let it be the apology, my lord 
 and gentlemen of the jury, for any tone of 
 occasional carelessness or (as you may think) 
 levity in what I have said — I have embarked 
 my whole heart on one single interest : 
 from the unhappy circumstances which 
 beset me, I have in that quarter no hope : 
 and, without hope there, life is to me of 
 no value. And you cannot take from me 
 any thing that I shall more willingly part 
 with." 
 
 The judge briefly summed up by telling 
 the jury that their duty was plain : yet, as 
 three points had arisen wdiich might per- 
 plex their views of the case, he would first 
 dispose of these. The prisoner had inti- 
 mated that he was indicted by a false name. 
 But, as it had sufficiently appeared in evi- 
 dence that he was generally known by this 
 name, that was no matter for their inquiry. 
 He had also alleged that he ow^d no alle- 
 giance to the crown of England : if so, the 
 onus of proof lay upon the prisoner, who 
 
254 WALLADMOR. 
 
 had adduced none whatever. Neither could 
 such j^roof avail him : for, to justify his 
 attack upon Harlech Castle, he must show 
 a positive commission from some power at 
 v/ar with this country. But that was 
 impossible, for the time of the attack was 
 one of profound peace. Finally, it had 
 been alleged, in the course of the trial, that 
 the prisoner was insane. Now, although 
 it had sufficiently appeared from the evi- 
 dence given that he was a man of extraor- 
 dinary and various talents, still that was 
 not impossible ; and, upon the whole, had 
 some countenance from the style of his 
 address — for defence he would not call it. 
 However as no direct evidence had been 
 called to that point, the jury would do well 
 to leave it wholly out of their considera- 
 tion ; they might be assured it would obtain 
 whatever attention was due to it in another 
 quarter. — Some indulgence was also due to 
 the prisoner on the ground of his unhappy 
 training in early life, though he had him- 
 
WALLADMOR. 255 
 
 self refused to urge it with that view. This 
 also might be considered elsewhere, but was 
 not to influence their verdict. The sole 
 question for them was, as to the overt acts 
 of war. Two witnesses had prevaricated 
 about the date of a particular incident : if 
 they thought that of importance, they 
 would give the prisoner the full benefit of 
 their doubts. The prisoner had in fact 
 admitted the main fact himself : and had 
 said nothing tending to change the natural 
 construction of it. He had simply endea- 
 voured to underrate the importance of 
 Harlech Castle, but that was of no conse- 
 quence : a place, w-eak in itself, may be 
 reputed strong; and, by encouraging people 
 to rise in a period of general political 
 ferment, may do all the mischief that could 
 attach to the seizure of a much stronger 
 place. However, in any case, that made 
 no difference. They had to consider the 
 single question he had mentioned : if they 
 thought that of no importance, they would 
 
256 WALLADMOR. 
 
 find the prisoner guilty on all the counts in 
 the indictment. 
 
 jMeantime, as it was beginning to grow 
 dusk, Sir Morgan Walladmor was sitting 
 in his library, and reviewing the case of 
 Captain Nicholas. INIany noble traits of 
 character, which had come to Sir Morgan's 
 knowledge in past years, — his talents, — and 
 his youth, — all pleaded for him powerfully : 
 the benignant old man felt concerned that 
 he should in any way have been made 
 instrumental to his condemnation : for of 
 that he had not much doubt ; and he was 
 considering through what channel he could 
 best exert his influence in obtaining some 
 mitigation of his sentence ; when a door 
 opened ; a person, moving with a noiseless 
 and stealthy foot, entered ; and, on raising 
 his head. Sir jMorgan saw before him iMrs. 
 Gillie Godber. As a person privileged to 
 
WALI.ADMOT?. 257 
 
 go whithersoever she would, Sir Morgan 
 would not have felt much surprise at seeing 
 her at this time or in this place : but there 
 was something unusual in her appearance 
 which excited his attention. Her eyes 
 were fierce and glittering ; but her manner 
 was unnaturally soft and specious : and she 
 seemed bent on some mission of peculiar 
 malignity. Sir Morgan motioned to her to 
 take a chair : but she was always rigidly 
 punctilious in accepting no favor or atten- 
 tion in Walladmor Castle ; and at present 
 she seemed not to observe his courtesy, but 
 leaned forward with her hands against the 
 back of a chair. 
 
 ^" Well, Sir iNIorgan Walladmor! so, 
 then, Edward Nicholas is gone to his trial?" 
 
 " He is ; God send him a good deliver- 
 ance ! " 
 
 " So, so ? " said she laughing, " times 
 are changed at Walladmor. A good deli- 
 verance, eh ? What, good deliverance to a 
 smuggler ? " 
 
 VOL. IT. s 
 
258 WAI.LADIMOR, 
 
 " Yes, INIrs. Godber, — even to a smuggler 
 who happens to need it : but Captam 
 Nicholas is not a smuggler." 
 
 " No, but he is worse : he has been a 
 captain of smugglers, and he is a traitor." 
 
 " Whether he is a traitor, we do not yet 
 know, Mrs. Godber. As a leader of smug- 
 glers he has at least the excuse of his unfor-. 
 tunate situation and his youth." 
 
 " Those ^vere no excuses. Sir IM organ, 
 twenty-four years ago." 
 
 " Woe is me, ]\Irs. Godber, that they 
 were not ! " 
 
 " So, so, so ? " said she, chuckling with 
 stifled laughter : " is it come to that ? so 
 then a w^orm may turn again, a poor w^orm 
 may turn again — when it is trod upon. 
 And the worm may be a snake. God 
 sends snakes for those that need them." 
 Then, pointing to the armorial bearings of 
 the house of Walladmor emblazoned on the 
 antique chairs, she said — " The snake. Sir 
 Morgan, my snake, Sir Morgan Wallad- 
 
WALLADMOR. 259 
 
 mor, my pretty snake — she stung your 
 Falcon ; your Falcon, and — your Doves !" 
 
 " She did indeed ! " and Sir JMorgan 
 groaned with the remembrance. 
 
 " Aye, aye. That summer night she 
 stung — she stung ! Oh ! sweet — sweet — 
 sweet is revenge, Sir IMorgan. Is it not, 
 Sir Morgan ? " 
 
 " God forbid !— God forbid !— Yet, if 
 that be sweet, you have had it." 
 
 " Aye, but not all. We are not yet 
 come to our death-beds : and, before then, 
 the snake may sting again. All is not 
 finished yet : — what think you, Sir Morgan, 
 will be the end ? what should be the end?" 
 
 " If you speak of our death-beds, ]\Irs. 
 Godber, — peace, as I humbly presume to 
 hope, the peace of christian charity and 
 mutual forgiveness. Frail creatures that 
 we are ! the best will need forgiveness ; the 
 guiltiest, I trust, who brings a contrite 
 heart, will not ask it in vain." Then, 
 after a pause, he added solemnly — 
 s 2 
 
260 WALLADMOR. 
 
 " You also, Mrs. Godber, will need forgive- 
 ness." 
 
 She fixed her eyes intently upon him, 
 at the same time slowly drawing from 
 her pocket two parcels. One was a packet 
 of letters. She laid them upon the library 
 table ; and, striking her hand upon them 
 with emphasis, she said — " Read those, 
 when you will : they are letters from Cap- 
 tain Donneraile and Winifred Griffiths." 
 
 Sir Morgan trembled and would have 
 taken the letters : but at this moment the 
 trampling of horses v;as heard in the great 
 court, upon which the library windows 
 looked out : it was now growing dark ; and 
 the torches of the horsemen suddenly irra- 
 diated the room, and flashed upon the eyes 
 of Mrs. Godber. Sir Morgan shuddered 
 at their expression. 
 
 She opened the other parcel ; and said, 
 with something of a commanding tone, 
 " Come here ! come here ! " 
 
 Mechanically almost he followed her to 
 
WALLADMOR 261 
 
 the window : she opened and displayed a 
 baby's frock : the light of the torches fell 
 strong upon it, and Sir IMorgan recognized 
 it well; for it bore in embroidered colours 
 the bloody hand and the antient crest of 
 Walladmor — by which marks it had been 
 advertized through Europe. 
 
 " Where had you this, Mrs. Godber ? '' 
 said he commanding his emotions : but at 
 that instant Sir Charles Davenant entered 
 the room ; and he turned to him with a 
 convulsive eagerness. — 
 
 " The verdict, Sir Charles? What is 
 the verdict ? " 
 
 *' Guilty : judgment has passed : the 
 prisoner is to be executed on Wednesday 
 next." 
 
 Sir Morgan still controled himself r*— he 
 turned back to Mrs. Godber ; and, taking 
 both her withered hands into his, he said 
 in the fervent accents of one who suppli- 
 cates for liberation from torment, but in 
 whispering tones that were audible to none 
 but her — 
 
262 WALLADMOll. 
 
 " Mrs. Godber, as you hope hereafter 
 to rejoin your own boy, tell me — where is 
 that unhappy child of mine that once wore 
 this dress ? " 
 
 Slowly she released her hands : slowly 
 her face relaxed into a smile : she looked 
 down into the court : the escort of dragoons 
 had formed in two ranks, leavii g a lane to 
 the door of the Falcon tower : the sheriff's 
 carriage had drawn up : the prisoner was 
 descending : the torch -hght glared upon 
 him. She drev/ in her breath with a 
 hissing sound; pressed her hands together; 
 and then, with an energy that seemed to 
 crowd the whole luxury of her long venge- 
 ance into that single action and that 
 single word, she threw out both arms at 
 once, pointed to Edward Nicholas, and, 
 with a yell, she ejaculated — " Thei^e ! " 
 
 Sir IVIorgan fell to the ground like one 
 smitten by lightning ; and long weeks of 
 unconsciousness gave to him the balm of 
 oblivion. 
 
WAl.LADMOll. 263 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 Look ! 
 I draw the sword myself : take it ; and hit 
 The innocent mansion of my love — my heart : 
 Fear not ; 'tis empty of all things but grief. 
 
 Cynibeline^ Act III, 
 
 Thus was Edward Walladmor, as we 
 may now call him, restored to his father 
 and the castle of his ancestors as a prisoner 
 under sentence of death.* — This however 
 
 * It is not well to move a sleeping lion. Yet, if either here- 
 abouts or elsewhere in the novel, any disagreeable reader should 
 find out something or other not quUc'va. the spirit of our manners 
 — or railier inartificial in the conduct of the story, — let him 
 understand that it is due to the German author. But might it 
 not have been altered and adapted to our notions ? Let him be 
 assured that all possible experiments in that way have been used 
 in the treatment of Walladmor. It is always satisfactory to 
 know that the patient has had every advantage which humanity 
 guided by skill could suggest. No attention has been omitted 
 even in tliis chapter which the nature of the case allowed. But 
 there are incidents which cannot be altered ; as they would draw 
 after them other alterations ; and compel the artist, who had 
 simply undertaken to " clean the works " of the watch, abso- 
 lutely to put in a new '-• mainspring." — English Translator. 
 
264 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 was known only to Tom Godber, who had 
 learned it from an accidental oversight of 
 his mother's during her frantic exultations 
 when alone with himself. The same spirit 
 of fiendish triumph had led her to make 
 the discovery to the unhappy Sir Morgan 
 prematurely, and when there was still some 
 chance of defeating her final vengeance. 
 But the public discovery she had prevailed 
 on herself to delay imtil the day of execu- 
 tion. 
 
 This was now fast approaching ; and no 
 intentions had yet been manifested on the 
 part of government for granting a pardon 
 or mitigation of the sentence. IMonday was 
 now come ; Wednesday was the day origi- 
 nally appointed for the execution ; and as 
 yet no orders had arrived to the contrary. 
 Sir Morgan meanwhile was lying in a state 
 of alternate delirium and unconsciousness 
 from the effects of a brain fever which had 
 seized him immediately after the dreadful 
 revelation made to him by Gillie Godber. 
 
WALLADMOR. 265 
 
 And Sir JMorgan's friends, though all feeling 
 great interest for tlie prisoner, and prepared 
 to think it a case of extreme harshness on 
 the part of government if the sentence 
 should be enforced, were unacquainted with 
 the dreadful secret of the prisoner's relation 
 to Sir jM organ ; and had thus no motive, 
 beyond general pity, for sliowing any dis- 
 trust of the royal mercy — by exerting any 
 special interest in the prisoner's behalf. 
 
 iMeantime there were hearts that beat in 
 trembling hope for Edward Walladmor; 
 hands were busy for him in silence ; steps 
 and whispering sounds were moving in the 
 darkness on his behalf. There had been 
 time for the news of his capture and too 
 probable fate to reach the Netherlands ; 
 and a ship of doubtful character, with a 
 captain and crew that had once served under 
 Captain Walladmor, instantly left the port 
 of Antwei*]! — and sailed, upon good infor- 
 mation as to the place and circumstances of 
 his confinement, to the coast of North 
 
266 WAi.i^ADMorv. 
 
 Wales. On this JMonday she had commu- 
 nicated with the shore ; and soon after 
 night-fall she stood in for the bay of Wal- 
 ladmor. 
 
 He however who was acquainted with 
 the strength of the castle, and had 
 witnessed the preparations of the sheriff, 
 might reasonably despair of a liberation 
 that was to be effected by force. The 
 castle itself, strengthened by such a garri- 
 son as now occupied its defences, was capa- 
 ble of m^aking some resistance : but the 
 Falcon tower, with its succession of iron 
 doors, its nanow and difficult approaches, 
 and the aerial situation of its prison, might 
 be considered absolutely impregnable to any 
 thing short of an army with a regular train 
 of storming artillery. 
 
 Confiding in this superabundant strength, 
 the sheriff — to whom Sir Charles Davenant 
 had resigned the disposal of the soldiers — 
 had not thought it necessary to take any 
 other precautions than that of locking all 
 
AVALLADMOR. 267 
 
 the doors in the tower, and placing a guard 
 of ^YC men in the little guard-room which 
 opened upon the rocky gallery. There was 
 no possibility of any attempt on the part of 
 the prisoner to escape ; nor of any sudden 
 alarm in this quarter : the men were there- 
 fore allow^ed to sleep ; with directions to 
 admit nobody who did not produce an order 
 bearing the seal of the sheriff or the lord 
 lieutenant. One centinel was placed inside 
 the great gate ; and, in case of any alarm, 
 he w-as to ring the great bell of the chapel. 
 
 It was now midnight : profound silence 
 reigned in the castle : and the sheriff, find- 
 ing that all w^as quiet on the outside, retired 
 to rest. 
 
 IMeantime in what state was the prisoner ? 
 He knew nothing of any designs to liberate 
 him : but he was more cheerful notwith- 
 standing than he had been for some time 
 past. Compared with that in which he had 
 surrendered himself, his present state of 
 mind might be called a happy one. He 
 
268 WALLADMOR. 
 
 had learned that Miss Walladmor had not 
 disregarded his letters, still less rejected 
 him, in the way he had been made to 
 believe. His own letters to her had been 
 duly delivered : but her replies, which (by 
 his own desire) were entrusted to i\Irs, God- 
 ber, had been intercepted by her : some 
 communication between her son Tom and 
 Grace Evans had raised a suspicion of that 
 nature ; Tom had made a search in a neigh- 
 bouring cottage where his mother now 
 resided ; had found the letters ; and had 
 secretly conveyed them to Captain Wallad- 
 mor. From these he had learned how 
 much injustice he had done to Miss Wal- 
 ladmor in sujiposing her capable of with- 
 drawing from him, under any cloud of 
 calamity, an affection such as she had 
 granted to him ; and he was assured that 
 one heart at least, and that the heart to 
 which his own was linked by indissoluble 
 bonds, would mourn for his fate. He had 
 learned also from Tom Godber the secret 
 
WALT.ADIMOK. 269 
 
 of the filial relation in which he himself 
 stood to Sir Morgan. Even this contri- 
 buted to tranquillize him, by taking away 
 all color of presumption from his own 
 addresses to Miss Walladmor, and all color 
 of degradation from her with which here- 
 after the censorious might else have re- 
 proached her. He felt also a secret joy, 
 such as a lover's heart is apt to feel, in the 
 circumstance of being IMiss Walladmor's 
 cousin — even in bearing the same name 
 with her — as he would have done in any 
 slighter bond that connected him (though 
 it were but by a fanciful tie) with the 
 woman whom he loved. And the chief 
 bitterness of death to him was this — that, 
 loving her so passionately, he should see 
 her face no more. 
 
 That pang at least shall be spared to 
 him. Edward Walladmor shall see Miss 
 Walladmor again ! once again shall kiss 
 the tears from her face ; and though they 
 meet in sorrow, yet shall this meeting 
 
270 WALLAD^rOI^. 
 
 record the tenderness of her afFectiou in 
 terms much stronger and more solemn than 
 happier hours could have furnished, and 
 shall put the seal to the long fidelity of her 
 heart. Now is Edward Walladmor to 
 learn by a proof, sweet yet miserable to re- 
 member, that there is no such potent shield 
 under calamity as a woman's love ; and 
 that, under circumstances of extremity 
 which transcend all cases that human laws 
 can be supposed to contemplate, nature will 
 prompt a conduct which as far transcends 
 the necessity of human sanction. Miss 
 Walladmor had learned through Grace the 
 discovery which ]\Irs. Godber had made of 
 the prisoner's relation to Sir IVIorgan Wal- 
 ladmor. That gentleman was incapable of 
 acting: and, apart from her own love to 
 Edward Walladmor, she knew under these 
 circumstances, how it became her to act as 
 the person on whom the interests and power 
 of the unhappy parent had devolved. She 
 had taken her resolution at once : all pre- 
 
WAT.T.ADMOK. 271 
 
 parations had long been made: all was 
 ready : nothing remained but the last 
 agitating step : and the heart, that Imng 
 upon tlie issue, had been waiting till now 
 in trembling hope ; but from this moment, 
 when the castle clock struck one, in fear 
 and dread suspense. 
 
 Two minutes after the clock had ceased. 
 Captain Walladmor heard the sound of bars 
 clanking at the guard-room door : a foot 
 crossed the gallery : the bars of his own 
 door were unfastened ; the bolts wei-e 
 drawn ; the key was turned in the lock : 
 the door opened : a lamp streamed in a 
 gleam of light, as the massy door slowly 
 swung back on its hinges : and Tom Godber 
 entered. How had he been allowed to pass ? 
 He carried an order in his hand which bore 
 the lord lieutenant's signature. But how 
 obtained or by wliom forged ? No matter ! 
 — a tear, which dropped from Captain Wal- 
 ladmor's eye upon the paper when Tom put 
 it in his hand, showed that he at least 
 
272 WALLADIVrOR. 
 
 knew what sweet hand it was that had 
 forged it. 
 
 Tom closed the door cautiously, and 
 rapidly made known liis mission. Captain 
 Walladmor wore no fetters : the keys were 
 presented to him which would pass every 
 door to the picture gallery, from one window 
 of which depended a rope-ladder. A fleet 
 horse was stationed in a grove near the 
 castle : hoat-men well armed were on the 
 beach ; and, in case of any sinister accident 
 obliging him to proceed inland, relays of 
 horses had been placed both on the southern 
 road through Dolgelly, and on the north 
 road to Bangor Ferry. The main danger, 
 which awaited him, was in the little guard- 
 room : that passed, it was not likely that 
 any thing would occur to intercept him. 
 The soldiers had necessarily been awakened 
 by Tom's passing through : and Captain 
 Walladmor would be detained some time 
 by fastening and unfastening the two doors. 
 However all the aid, whicli could be given, 
 
WALLADMOR. 273 
 
 had been prepared. Captain Walladmor 
 had dressed himself on the day of his trial 
 in a hussar uniform of the patriot army in 
 which he bore his last commission : this he 
 still retained ; and it was not so unlike the 
 dragoon uniform of Tom, but that under a 
 dim light it might well deceive the eye of 
 a sleepy man, if any should chance to be 
 awake. Not to rely too much on that 
 however, Tom had wrapped himself up in 
 his dark military cloak which he now flung 
 over Captain Walladmor. This served 
 also to conceal his face, as well as the sword 
 and brace of pistols with which Tom now 
 presented him. These arrangements made, 
 Tom conjured him to lose no time — as 
 there was some suspicion that the sheriff 
 might make a circuit before two o'clock. 
 But Edward Walladmor had yet one 
 question to put : Where was Miss Wallad- 
 mor ? The countenance of Tom showed 
 
 that he anticipated this question. But he 
 had been instructed if possible to evade it, 
 
 VOL. II. T 
 
274 WAIJ-ADMOR. 
 
 Miss Walladmor's heart had told her that 
 Captain Walladmor would seek an inter- 
 view with her : and Grace had made Tom 
 understand that he was to pretend igno- 
 rance and fling all the difficulties he could 
 in the way of it : for the peril of discovery 
 became too much augmented by any delay. 
 In case of necessity, however, Grace had 
 acquainted Tom with the most private road 
 to Miss Walladmor's suite of apartments. 
 Unwilling as he was, Tom now found him- 
 self obliged to make this known : for Cap- 
 tain Walladmor, seeing that he knew, posi- 
 tively refused to move until he told him. 
 
 Now then all was ready : Tom took the 
 prisoner's place: Captain Walladmor shook 
 hands with him fervently ; muffled himself 
 up in his cloak ; took the lamp and the 
 keys ; issued upon the gallery ; closed and 
 fastened the prison door; crossed to the 
 door of the guard-room, and paused for 
 one moment before he opened it. He, who 
 so lately had been without hope, conceiving 
 
WALLADMOH. 275 
 
 himself rejected by Miss Walladmor, had 
 now a mighty interest at stake: if he passed 
 this room, he might at the worst die like a 
 soldier ; and he should see Miss Wallad- 
 mor ! His firmness was now tried to the 
 uttermost, and somewhat shaken : his heart 
 palpitated a little ; and he smiled to see 
 that his hand trembled like the hand of a 
 coward. 
 
 He passed in : the men were all stretched 
 on the ground ; but one at least was 
 awake ; for he d — d him for making a 
 noise and breaking his sleep. However he 
 did not raise his head : and Captain Wal» 
 ladmor passed on, stepping carefully over 
 them, to the opposite door. Here it be- 
 came necessary, from the complexity of the 
 fastenings, to set down the lamp for a few 
 moments ; in doing which the cloak fell a 
 little way from the face of Captain Wal- 
 ladmor, and unveiled a set of features too 
 unlike Tom's to impose upon the dullest 
 eyes, if any were fixed upon them. A little 
 T 2! 
 
S76 AVAIJ.ADArOR. 
 
 rustling was heard at this moment in one 
 corner of the room : Captain Walladmor 
 was all ear, and looked round. A dragoon 
 was sitting up on his pallet ; his wild 
 black eyes were fixed keenly on Captain 
 Walladmor ; and a smile was upon his face 
 of ambiguous character, which the Captain 
 knew not how to interpret, but which suf- 
 ficiently betrayed that the soldier knew 
 him. The next moment the man sprang 
 up to his feet, and Captain Walladmor 
 hastily put his hand to his sword. He 
 advanced ; continued to smile ; put his fore- 
 finger on his lips as a sign for the prisoner to 
 make no noise; and, coming close up to 
 him, whispered — ** I know you, Captain ! 
 But all's right : " and then, nodding with 
 a confidential air, he said — " Push on." 
 
 It was Kilmary, who had sometime 
 back enlisted into the dragoons. Captain 
 Walladmor opened the door ; and passed 
 out — closely followed by the dragoon. 
 Then, rcclosing the door, he descended 
 
WALLADMOR. 277 
 
 safely with Iiis conipanioii, through all the 
 numerous impediments of bolts and bars, 
 to the picture-gallery. At the very first 
 window that they came to, the ladder was 
 fixed ; this, by way of showing some confi- 
 dence in him, he pointed out to Kilmary ; 
 and told him, if he wished to be of service 
 to him, to descend — and prepare the boat- 
 men on the shore. Then, rightly judging 
 that the man had made himself a party to 
 his escape for the sake of reaping a large 
 reward, he put into his hand one of the 
 rouleaus of gold which IMiss Walladmor 
 had sent by Tom, and enjoined him to be 
 secret and vigilant. The man expressed 
 his gratitude ; disappeared through the 
 window ; and Captain Walladmor was left 
 alone in the picture-gallery to trace out the 
 road to his cousin's apartments. 
 
 His agitation had subsided : all was 
 silent : and he now felt assured that nothing 
 could defeat him of his interview ^^ith Miss 
 Walladmor. As he moved down the 
 
278 WALLADMOll. 
 
 gallery amongst the portraits of his ances- 
 tors, he paused for a moment before one 
 which fronted him and struck him power- 
 fully. It was the portrait of a lady, young 
 and of pensive beauty : the costume was 
 splendid and somewhat fanciful, so that it 
 was not easy by candle-light to determine the 
 generation to which she had belonged. But 
 nodoubt she had at some period been a mem- 
 ber of his house : and Captain Walladmor 
 was fascinated by the expression ; for she 
 seemed to look down upon him with pity- 
 ing love. — The expression was not false. 
 It was a face (but he knew it not) that had 
 for one brief fortnight, some three-and- 
 twenty years ago, looked down upon his 
 with maternal love. Some wandering 
 dream of such a possibility passed through 
 his mind ; he sighed ; and moved on. 
 
 With a cautious step he threaded the 
 labyrinth of passages till he came to the 
 door which, by certain signs, he knew must 
 be that which opened into Miss Wal- 
 
WALLAD3IOR. .S79 
 
 ladmor s apartments. It stood ajar : he 
 pushed it gently open : the room was 
 empty : there was no noise ; and a lamp 
 was burning silently on the table. Through 
 this anti-room he passed on to the next in 
 the suite. This was 7iot empty : and he 
 paused at the door-way. 
 
 How often is the eye fixed unconsciously 
 upon mute inanimate objects that, if they 
 had a voice, could utter a talc of passionate 
 remembrances — and to some eye perhaps do 
 utter such a tale ! ^ This was the very room 
 from which— about four-and-twenty years 
 ago he, who now stood at the door, had 
 been borne by the cruel nurse, who had 
 entered for a moment whilst the uncon- 
 scious mother slept. There stood the very 
 sofa (but he knew it not) upon which the 
 unhappy lady had reposed ; and there had 
 she breathed her last, just where the lady in 
 
 * A sentiment which has been expressed by Mr. Foster in his 
 ingenious essays ; and most afFectingly expressed by a great poet 
 of this age in the *' Excursion." 
 
282 WALLADMOR. 
 
 rang out at this moment loud and fast. 
 Voices were heard. And immediately after 
 thundering and redoubling peals of blows 
 against the great gate echoed through the 
 castle-hall. 
 
 Captain Walladmor was silent and dis- 
 turbed : for any sound, whether from friend 
 or foe, was to them the signal of separation : 
 but the effect on JMiss Walladmor was ter- 
 rific. She, innocent creature ! started up 
 like a guilty thing : for one moment her 
 countenance flushed with fugitive colors, 
 and then settled into a deathly paleness ; 
 she stood as if fi'ozen : her hands were 
 raised : lier eyes were fixed on the door : 
 and she looked like a statue of panic before 
 a judgment seat listening for some irrevoc- 
 able doom. A second time the hideous 
 uproar was heard : and a crash, as of some 
 mighty ruin. Captain AValladmor groaned 
 as he gazed upon the beautiful figure and 
 the sweet countenance before him, both 
 petrified into marble, speechless, breathless, 
 
WAI.LADMOll. 283 
 
 sightless, — giving no sign of life but by 
 spasmodic startings, that shot momentarily 
 over her bosom and lovely mouth : for his 
 sake was she tortured thus — for his sake, 
 that in a minute — oh ! how brief a minute 
 — must part from her, must see that fonn — 
 that countenance no more ! A third time 
 the dreadful summons sounded: the hall 
 of Walladmor rang with tempestuous 
 voices : steps ran along the galleries : the 
 clattering of heavy heels was heard on the 
 great stair- case ; the clashing of swords ; 
 tumult, and hurrying; curses, and pursuit: 
 and suddenly from the upper galleries was 
 heard a thundering discharge of carbines. 
 That sound awoke Miss "^Valladmor from 
 her trance : she kept her eyes on the door 
 — she stretched out her hand, with the ra- 
 pidity of flight and terror, to Captain Wal- 
 ladmor— and said, but with the stifled 
 whisper of one in agony : " Oh ! — come — 
 come — come — come — come ! " He rose, 
 and for one moment paused. A presenti- 
 
282 WALLADMOR. 
 
 rang out at this moment loud and fast. 
 Voices were heard. And immediately after 
 thundering and' redoubling peals of blows 
 against the great gate echoed through the 
 castle-hall. 
 
 Captain Walladmor was silent and dis- 
 turbed : for any sound, whether from friend 
 or foe, was to them the signal of separation : 
 but the effect on Miss Walladmor w as ter- 
 rific. She, innocent creature ! started up 
 like a guilty thing : for one moment her 
 countenance flushed with fugitive colors, 
 and then settled into a deathly paleness : 
 she stood as if frozen : her hands were 
 raised : her eyes were fixed on the door : 
 and she looked like a statue of panic before 
 a judgment seat listening for some irrevoc- 
 able doom. A second time the hideous 
 uproar was heard : and a crash, as of some 
 mighty ruin. Captain Walladmor groaned 
 as he gazed upon the beautiful figure and 
 the sweet countenance before him, both 
 petrified into marble, speechless, breathless. 
 
WAI.LADMOll. 283 
 
 sightless, — giving no sign of life but by 
 spasmodic startings, that shot momentarily 
 over her bosom and lovely mouth : for his 
 sake was she tortured thus — for his sake, 
 that in a minute — oh ! how brief a minute 
 — must part from her, must see that form — 
 that countenance no more ! A third time 
 the dreadful summons sounded: the hall 
 of Walladmor rang with tempestuous 
 voices : steps ran along the galleries : the 
 clattering of heavy heels was heard on the 
 great stair-case ; the clashing of swords ; 
 tumult, and hurrying; curses, and pursuit: 
 and suddenly from the upper galleries was 
 heard a thundering discharge of carbines. 
 That sound awoke Miss ^Valladmor from 
 her trance : she kept her eyes on the door 
 — she stretched out her hand, with the ra- 
 pidity of flight and terror, to Captain Wal- 
 ladmor— and said, but with the stifled 
 whisper of one in agony : " Oh ! — come — 
 come — come — come — come ! " He rose, 
 and for one moment paused. A presenti- 
 
28A WALLADMOR. 
 
 meiit was at his heart that it were better he 
 should go. Yet he had not the resolution 
 to refuse that hand which was stretched 
 out to save him, nor voluntarily to forego 
 the sweet — sweet feeling that he was pro- 
 tected by Miss Walladmor. In such tor- 
 ments of farewell anguish, what a heaven 
 to be shielded — if it were but for a moment 
 — by the tenderness of Miss ^Valladmor's 
 love ! Passively as a child he yielded him- 
 self to her guidance as she led him into her 
 dressing-room. Grace was sitting there 
 weeping : and rose as they entered. " Run 
 Grace," said Miss Walladmor rapidly — 
 " Run to the outer door, lock it, lock it : 
 open it for nobody." So much had sorrow 
 for her mistress absorbed all feminine feel- 
 ings, that the poor girl showed no terror— 
 but hastened to obey : and Edward Wallad- 
 mor took her hand as she passed, and 
 pressed it to thank her for her sympathy. 
 
 Whence was the uproar ? Some eye had 
 detected the ladder : the alarm was given : 
 
WALI.ADMOR. 285 
 
 at the very same moment the crew of the 
 strange ship from Antwerp, half blacks and 
 people of colour, remorseless and used to 
 deeds of violence but devotedly attached to 
 their former commander, had been met by 
 Kilmary : the partial escape had been 
 reported to them : but after waiting some 
 time the delay alarmed them ; they had 
 pushed on beneath the walls of the castle ; 
 the removal of the ladder confirmed their 
 fears : and, soon after the sheriff's discovery 
 of the escape, the attack had been made on 
 the gate : this had given way to the 
 strength and impetuosity of the assailants : 
 and the great hall with its flights of stair- 
 case and ranges of galleries, rising tier 
 above tier, was now filled with slaughter 
 and confusion. The uproar and clamour 
 increased : like death-notes every sound 
 and every echo smote the heart of Edward 
 Walladmor : every life, that was lost, was 
 lost for him : and to linger any longer was 
 
286 WALLADMOR. 
 
 to endanger his father's castle and all whom 
 it contained. 
 
 Hastily the parting kiss was given : 
 hastily the parting tears were shed : they 
 parted as those part who part for ever : 
 and with a shuddering gesture Edward 
 Walladmor threw open the door which laid 
 bare the bloody tragedy on the stairs. 
 The hall, of immense altitude, was filled 
 with sm*ges of smoke : overhead it formed 
 a thick canopy or awning, with pendent 
 volumes, that here and there were broken 
 and showed a stair-case slippery mth blood 
 and a chaos of black faces, mulattoes, dra- 
 goons, torches, gleaming arms, and accou- 
 trements. Every gloomy corridor that 
 issued upon the landings of the stair- case, 
 — every dusky archway, some in utter dark- 
 ness, some pierced with partial flashings of 
 the flambeaux, were the scenes of mortal 
 struggle, flight, or dying agony. Such a 
 spectacle, by the demands which it made 
 
WALLADMOR. 287 
 
 on his firmness and presence of mind, re- 
 stored Captain Walladmor to the tranquil 
 composure of the quarter-deck. Miss Wal- 
 ladmor followed him with her eyes, and 
 stood, with uplifted hands, heneath the 
 archway. He moved on with his usual 
 self-possession and dignity : he called loud- 
 ly in Spanish to his former crew: they 
 knew the voice of their heroic commander ; 
 and sent up a loud huzza of welcome. That 
 sound drew upon him the attention of tlie 
 dragoons. One, who stood in an upper gal- 
 lery, levelled his carhine and fired: a 
 shot took effect in his left shoulder, and 
 wounded him slightly : another shot was 
 repelled by a brazen gird on the glazed 
 cap which he wore ; he was stunned how- 
 ever for the moment, and reeled against 
 the wall. This man in the upper gallery 
 had been hidden from Miss Walladmor by 
 the moulded architrave of the door-way 
 near which she stood : but, at this moment, 
 in a lower gallery appeared the ominous 
 
288 WAI.LADMOR. 
 
 face of Gillie Godber : behind her stood a 
 dragoon. Once again her eyes glared, and 
 her vindictive voice resounded, in Wallad- 
 mor hall. " That's him," she shouted — 
 eagerly laying one hand upon the arm of the 
 soldier to guide him into the right direc- 
 tion, whilst with the other she pointed and 
 followed her object as he moved : " that's 
 the Captain, that's the traitor ! " The man 
 watched him calmly as he passed a range 
 of pillars, and was emerging upon an open 
 space of gallery. He levelled, and settled 
 himself firmly for his aim : — Miss Wallad- 
 mor heard the voice : she saw the action : 
 through a cloud of smoke she caught the 
 preparation: she shrieked; raised her 
 hands ; ran forwards ; with a piercing cry 
 she exclaimed — " Oh no, no, no, no !" and 
 Captain Walladmor turned, and caught her 
 on his left arm just as the fatal bidlet fled 
 across the hall and sank into her bosom. 
 
 The anguish of despair, and the frenzy 
 of vengeance, as of one wounded where only 
 
WALLADMOR. 289 
 
 he was vulnerable, chaced each other over 
 Edward Walladmor's countenance : with 
 tlic " inevitable eye" of vindictive wrath, 
 he drew a pistol in tumultuous hurry 
 from his belt ; fired ; and shot the man 
 through the heart. Then, turning to jNIiss 
 AValladmor, he gazed with distraction upon 
 her pallid lips, and her black robe now 
 crimsoned with blood. He seated himself, 
 with his lovely burthen, upon the lower 
 stair of a flight which led off at right 
 angles from the landing on which he stood. 
 jMiss Walladmor*s eyes were closed; and 
 she vvas manifestly dying. Half uncon- 
 sciously Edward Walladmor murmured dis- 
 ordered words of tenderness and distraction: 
 some sounds fell upon her ear, and she 
 raised her heavy eyelids. A glare of torches 
 and black faces fell upon her eyes with the 
 confusion of a dream : shrinkingly she 
 averted them, and they rested upon what 
 she sought: she saw the features of her 
 cousin bending over her with the misery of 
 
 VOL. 11. u 
 
290 WALLADMOR. 
 
 love that feels its impotence to save. 
 Life was nov/ ebbing rapidly : a gleaming 
 smile of tenderness fled across her face : she 
 half raised her hands and moved her lips ; 
 Edward Walladmor bent downwards to 
 meet the action : she put her arms feebly 
 about his neck ; whispered something to 
 him ; and then, as he kissed her lips in 
 anguish, her arms parted from their languid 
 grasp, and fell powerlessly on each side ; she 
 sighed deeply ; her eyes closed ; opened upon 
 him once again ; once again smiled her 
 farewell love upon him ; and, with that 
 smile upon her face, rendered up her inno- 
 cent spirit in the arms of him for whom 
 she died. 
 
 All strife was hushed by this solemn 
 scene : Sir Charles Davenant had now ap- 
 peared ; and called off the soldiers from a 
 hopeless contest. The sailors gently re- 
 leased Miss Walladmor from the arms of 
 her now insensible lover, and resigned her 
 into the hands of her women. Captain 
 
WALLADMOK. 291 
 
 Walladmor they bore ofF to their boat : 
 three hours before day-light they were on 
 board their ship and under weigh for the 
 south : and, as no pursuit was attempted or 
 indeed possible, the vessel was first heard of 
 again from the coast of South America. 
 
 Thus was the old rhyme fulfilled which 
 Gillie Godber had so often chaunted, and 
 in a comprehensive sense that perhaps she 
 had not hoped. " Grief zvas over at Wal- 
 ladmor." Her ov>'n fate ratified the pro- 
 phecy and sealed its truth. She also was 
 among the killed : some merciful bullet had 
 liberated her from the storm of guilt and 
 sorrow which for more than twenty years 
 had brooded over her brain, and ravaged 
 her heart : and after so long a period of 
 calamity, during which she had been rejected 
 from human sympathy, she was again 
 gathered within the fold of Christian fel- 
 u 2 
 
292 WALLADMOK. 
 
 lowship in the pastoral churchyard of Utra- 
 gan. On a grey and silent afternoon a 
 funeral was heheld by those who stood upon 
 the mountains above Utragan winding 
 through the valleys to the quiet chapel at 
 their foot. It stopped in a secluded angle 
 of the churchyard at a spot known to all 
 the country. The grave of the " blooming 
 boy," whose filial prayer upon the scaffold 
 for his mother's peace of mind had 7iot been 
 granted, was now opened to receive her ; 
 and the mother and the son, after their long 
 separation, once more were reunited. This 
 spectacle brought back forgiving thoughts : 
 the pity, w^hich had once been granted to 
 her, was now restored : and the uncharitable 
 thoughts, which had attended her when 
 living, gave way before the affecting memo- 
 rials of the open grave — suggesting the 
 awful trial which had overthrown her reason 
 before her conscience had finally given way. 
 After some weeks of illness Sir Morgan 
 Walladmor was restored to a state of con- 
 
WALLADMOR. 293 
 
 valescence ; and, by slow degrees and after 
 many months, to his wonted firmness of 
 mind. He was then able to bear the recital 
 of all which had happened ; and the news 
 which had recently arrived of Captain 
 Walladmor's death. Large funds had been 
 sent out to him in South America by Sir 
 ]\Iorgan's friends : with these he had raised 
 a horse regiment : and at the head of this 
 in the decisive engagement of INIanchinilla 
 he had found at last " the death that he 
 was wooing!" With a miniature of Miss 
 Walladmor pressed to his lips, he was disco- 
 vered lying on the ground of the last decisive 
 charge : and Sir i\I organ was satisfied to 
 hear that his son had met the death of a 
 soldier and in a cause which he approved. 
 
 That Bertram was twin brother to Ed- 
 ward Nicholas, tlic reader will long have 
 suspected. By tlie letters of Captain Don- 
 neraile and the verbal communications of 
 Bertram it appeared sufficiently that the 
 wife of Captain Donneraile (at that time a 
 
294 WALLADMOR. 
 
 mate on board the Rattle-snake) and Wini- 
 fred Griffiths, being the only two women on 
 board, had cast lots for the appropriation of 
 the children. The happier lot had fallen 
 upon Bertram : for, though it gave him up 
 to the cruel spoiler that had pierced the 
 hearts of his parents, yet had it thrown him 
 upon a quiet life in a humble village of 
 Germany where he was spared that spec- 
 tacle of storm and guilt which had pursued 
 the youthful steps of his unhappy twin 
 brother. Prosperity had left to Winiired 
 Griffiths for many years leisure for medita- 
 tion upon the wrongs she had done to Sir 
 Morgan. And when affliction visited her, 
 it came in a shape that taught her to mea- 
 sure the strength of parental anguish : she 
 lost her only child ; and on her death- bed, 
 being now left a widow, she had bequeathed 
 to Bertram the whole sum of which she had 
 robbed his father : upon which sum he had 
 supported himself at the Saxon university 
 of Halle. But the disclosure of his birth 
 
WALLADMOR. 295 
 
 and connexions, which she had deferred 
 until her latter moments, had been cut 
 short by death. What she said however 
 had been sufficient to direct the course of 
 Bertram to his native country. The dis- 
 covery, which she had left imperfect, was 
 now completed by others : and it shed com- 
 fort upon the declining days of Sir ]\I organ 
 — tliat, from the amiable disposition and 
 good sense of the son who was thus restored 
 to him, when matured by more intercourse 
 with the world, he could venture to hope 
 for increase of honour and generations of 
 happier days to the ancient house of WaU 
 ladmor. 
 
WALLADMOR. 297 
 
 POSTSCRim\ 
 
 * E rjnovis Ug)w 7wn Jit Merxurius.^ 
 This Roman proverb, Courteous Reader ! is 
 adequately rendered by a homely one of 
 our own — " You cannot make a silk purse 
 out of a sozv's ea)\" Certainly it is diffi- 
 cult to do so ; and none can speak to that 
 more feelingly than myself; but not im- 
 possible, as I would hope that 7}ii/ Wallad- 
 mor ^^^ll show when compared with the 
 original. In saying this I disclaim all 
 vanity ; for, v/aiving other and more positive 
 services to the German Walladmor, I here 
 found my claim to the production of a 
 '•' silk purse " simply on the negative merits 
 of omission and compression. This is a 
 point which ou another account demands a 
 
298 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 word or two of explanation ; as the reader 
 will else find it difficult to understand upon 
 what principle of translation three * thick 
 set ' German volumes can have shrunk into 
 txvo English ones of somewhat meagre pro- 
 portions. 
 
 The German hoaxer was aware that no 
 book could have a chance of passing for 
 Sir Walter Scott's ^ which was not in three 
 volumes octavo. A Scotch novel from Mr. 
 
 • In here speaking of Sir Walter Scott by name as the author 
 of the Constable Scotch novels, the writer would be sorry to have 
 it supposed that he was inattentive to the courtesies of literature. 
 AVhatever disguise an author chooses to assume, it is a point of 
 good breeding to respect it in any case where there is not some 
 higher reason for declining to do so. In this case there is. It is 
 now become essential to Sir "Walter Scott's honour no longer to 
 speak of the author of the Scotch novels as ' unknown.' Sir "Walter 
 is notunderany necessity of avowing himself the author : but no rnan 
 who does not mean to insult him is now at liberty to doubt whether 
 he is. For Sir W. S. cannot now be supposed ignorant that he 
 has long and universally had the credit of being the author : and 
 a man of honour would not, even by his silence, acquiesce in the 
 public direction to himself of praise due to some other. Conse- 
 quently it is not possible to make it a question whether Sir W. S. 
 were the author, witliout at the same time maldng it a question 
 whether he were a man of honour. This single consideration 
 would have saved a world of literary gossip. 
 
WALLADMOR. 299 
 
 Constable's press, and not in three volumes, 
 would be as absurd as a novel from any 
 man's press in folio — as ominous as ' double 
 Thebes *— as perverse as drinking a man's 
 health " with two times two " (wliicli in fact 
 woidd be an insult) — as fraudulent as a 
 subscription of 99/. 19^. (where it would be 
 clear that some man had pocketed a shilling) 
 — and as contrary to all Natural History as 
 that twenty-seven tailors should make either 
 more men or fewer than tlie cube root of 
 that number. What is the occult law of 
 the Constable press, W'hich compels it into 
 these three-headed births, might be difficult 
 to explain : i\Ir. Kant himself ^ with all 
 his subtlety could never make up his mind 
 why no man thinks of presenting a lady 
 with a service of 23 cups and saucers, 
 tliough it is evident that she is just as likely 
 to have a party of 23 people as 24 : nay, il' 
 the reader himself were to make such a 
 
 * See his Antliropologie, 
 
300 WALLADMOPv. 
 
 present to an English grand jury, where the 
 party never could be more than 23, he 
 would infallibly order a service of 24 : 
 though he must be certain that the 24th 
 cup-and-saucer was a mere Irish bull — an 
 empty piece of impertinence — a disgusting 
 pleonasm — and a downright logical ab- 
 sm-dity. For a 24th grand jury man is as 
 much a metaphysical chima^ra as an 
 " abstract Lord Mayor," or a 30tli of Febru- 
 ary. Not only, therefore, xvithout reason, 
 but even against reason, people have a 
 superstitious regard to certain numbers : 
 and Mr. Constable has a right to his super- 
 stition, which possibly may rest on this 
 consideration — that 3 is the number of the 
 Graces. But, let the rationale of the case 
 be what it may, we all know that it is a 
 fact ; and a Constable novel in two volumes 
 (being a mere ens rationis ratiocinantis) 
 w^ould have been detected as a hoax in 
 limine by the very printer's devils in any 
 printing-office in Europe. 
 
WALLADMOK. 301 
 
 So much was settled then : to hoax Ger- 
 many,* Walladm or* must be in three vohimes. 
 But what, if there v/ere not time for the 
 quickest hoaxer to compose three volumes 
 before the Leipsic Fair ? In that case, two 
 men must do what one could not. But 
 now, as the second man could not possibly 
 know what his leader was talking about, he 
 must be allowed to produce his under stra- 
 tum of Walladmor, without the least earthly 
 reference to the upper stratum : his 
 thorough-bass must go on without any 
 relation to the melodies in the treble. Yet 
 this was awkward : and, when all was 
 finished, the most skilful artist might have 
 found it puzzling to harmonize the whole. 
 To meet this dilemma therefore, it seems 
 that the leader said to his second — * Write 
 me a heap of long speeches upon astrology 
 and Welch genealogy ; write me another 
 heap on English politics : I have some 
 people in my novel (Sir Morgan and 
 Dulberry) upon whom I can hang them : 
 
302 WALLADMOU. 
 
 I shall take care to leave hooks in plenty, 
 do you leave eyes ; and with these hooks 
 and eyes we can fasten your speeches on my 
 men, when hoth are finished.' This I con- 
 ceive to have been the pleasant arrangement 
 upon vvhich ' ^^^alladmor' was worked so 
 as to fetch up the ground before the fair 
 began ; and thus ingeniously were two 
 men's labors dovetailed into one novel : 
 '' aliter non fit, Avite, liber." When the 
 rest of the rigging was complete, the poli- 
 tics, genealogy, and astrology, were mounted 
 as " royals " and " sky-scrapers ; " and the 
 ship weighed from Berlin for Leipsic under 
 a press of sail. 
 
 Now, as to these long speeches and Welch 
 conversations, I know not who is their 
 author ; but in conscience I cannot pay 
 him a less compliment than this — that, 
 
 " From Cain the first man-child 
 
 To him that did but yesterday suspire," * 
 
 there has not been such another idiot. All 
 
 * K.John. 
 
WALLADMOK. 303 
 
 attempt at mending them, or transfusing 
 any sense into their dry bones, was liope- 
 less : translated into English, bottled, and 
 corked up, they would furnish virus 
 enough, if distributed by inoculation 
 amongst the next three thousand novels of 
 the English press, to ruin the constitution 
 of them all. 
 
 I know not whether, in thus accounting 
 for my omissions, I shall be thought plead- 
 ing for my defects, or proclainring my deserts. 
 In the German author it was a manifest 
 act of pocket-picking to stuff his novel with 
 such insufferable rubbish. And it seemed 
 to me that, by translating it, I should make 
 myself a party to his knavery as well as 
 to his dulness. However, if any man 
 complains of this omission, for an adequate 
 " consideration " (as the la^vyers say) I 
 shall be happy to cart the whole of it upon 
 his premises — deliver it in choice English 
 — and shoot it into the coal- cellar or any 
 more appropriate place. 
 
304 WALLADMOll. 
 
 Mean time for the public use I have 
 thought it as well to leave it untranslated. 
 And the reader now understands how the 
 novel comes to be cut down from a three- 
 decker to a two-decker; and upon what 
 argument I pretend to have produced a 
 * silk purse.' For undoubtedly the differ- 
 ence between Walladmor with and without 
 the rubbish — political, astrological, " and 
 diabolical" (as Mrs. Malaprop says), is as 
 the difference between a sow's ear (excuse 
 the coarseness of the proverb) and a silk 
 purse. And I shall think the better of the 
 German author and myself, as long as I 
 live ; of him for the very ideal artist of sow's 
 ears, and of myself as a most respectable 
 manufacturer of silk purses. 
 
 Thus much to account for my omissions 
 and compressions. I am afraid, however, 
 there will be some readers who will be so 
 far from asking any apology on those heads, 
 that they will facetiously regard them as 
 my only merits : and that ^vould be as 
 
cruel as Lessing's suggestion to an author 
 for his table of errata — " Apropos, of errata, 
 suppose you were to put your whole book 
 into the list of errata." More candid readers, 
 I am inclined to hope, will blame me for not 
 having made larger alterations in Wallad- 
 mor : and that would be a flattering cri- 
 ticism, as it must suppose that I could have 
 improved it : indeed, compliment never 
 wears so delightful an aspect, as when it 
 takes the shape of blame. The truth is — 
 I have altered ; and altered until I had not 
 the face to alter any more. The ghost of 
 Sir John Cutler's stockings began to appear 
 
 to me ; and elder ghosts than that the 
 
 ghost of Sir Francis Drake's ship, the ghost 
 of Jason's ship, and other celebrated cases 
 of the same perplexing question : metaphy- 
 sical doubts fell upon me : and I began to 
 fear that if, in addition to a new end, I were 
 to put a new beginning and a new middle^ 
 — I should be accused of building a second 
 English hoax upon the primitive German 
 
 VOL. II. X 
 
306' WALLADMOK. 
 
 hoax. In general I have proceeded as one 
 would in transplanting a foreign opera to our 
 stage : where the author tells the story ill — 
 take it out of his hands, and tell it hetter : 
 retouch his recitative ; hring out and de- 
 velope his situations : in this place throw in 
 a tender air, in that a passionate chorus. 
 Pretty much in this spirit I have endea- 
 voured to proceed. But it is a most delicate 
 operation to take work out of another man's 
 loom, and put work in : joinings and sutures 
 will sometimes appear; colors will not 
 always match. And, after all, it is impos- 
 sible to alter every thing that one may 
 think amiss. In general, I would request 
 the reader to consider himself indebted to 
 me for any thing he may find particularly 
 good ; and above all things to load my 
 wretched ' Principal ' with the blame of 
 every thing that is wrong. If he comes to 
 any passage which he is disposed to think 
 superlatively bad, let him be assured that 
 it is not niine. If he changes liis opinion 
 
WALL ADM OK. 307 
 
 about it, I inay be disposed to reconsider 
 whether I had not some liand in it. This 
 will be the more reasonable in him, as the 
 critics will " feel it their duty " to take the 
 very opposite course. However, if lie reads 
 German, he can judge for himself: and I 
 can assure him my copy of the original 
 Walladmor is quite at his service for " a 
 term of years ; " having read it m.yself as 
 much as I ever mean to do in this life. As 
 to all those who have not that means of 
 settling the question, or do not think it 
 worth so much pains, I beg them to rely on 
 my word when I apply to the English 
 Walladmor the spirit of the old bull — 
 
 " Had you seen but these roads before they were made, 
 You would lift up your eyes, and bless Marshal Wade ! " 
 
 " A friend of mine" (as we all say, when 
 we are looking out for a masque under 
 which to praise ourselves or to abuse the 
 verses of any * dear ' acquaintance) — " a 
 friend of mine " has written a very long 
 X 2 
 
308 AVALLADMOR. 
 
 review (or analysis rather) of the German 
 Walladmor in a literary journal of the 
 metropolis. He concludes it with the fol- 
 lowing passage, which I choose to quote — 
 partly on account of the graceful allusion 
 which it contains, and partly because it 
 gives me an opportunity of trying my hand 
 at an allusion to the same beautiful and 
 romantic legend : 
 
 ** Now turning back from the hoaxer to 
 the hoax, we shall conclude with this pro- 
 position. — All readers of Spenser must 
 know that the true Florimel lost her girdle ; 
 which, they will remember, was found by 
 Sir Satyrane — and was adjudged by a whole 
 assemblage of knights to the false Florimel, 
 although it did not quite fit her. She, viz. 
 the snowy Florimel, 
 
 exceedingly did tret ; 
 
 And, snatching from her hand half angrily 
 The belt again, about her body gan it tie. 
 
 Yet natheniore would it her body fit : 
 Yet natheless to her, as her dew right, 
 It yielded was by them that judged it. 
 
 Fiifru Qticenr, B. IV. C 5. 
 
WAI.I.ADMOR. f309 
 
 '''By them that judged it ! * and who 
 are they ? Spenser is here prophetic, and 
 means the Reviewers. It has been gene- 
 rally whispered that the true Scotch Flori- 
 mel has latterly lost her girdle of beauty. 
 Let this German Sir Satyrane, then, indul- 
 gently be supposed to have found it : and, 
 whilst the title to it is in abeyance, let it 
 be adjudged to the false Florimel : and let 
 her have a licence to wear it for a few 
 months until the true Florimel comes 
 forward in her original beauty, dissolves 
 her snowy counterfeit, and reclaims her own 
 ' golden cestus.' " 
 
 This was very well for " my friend " to 
 wish at the time he did wish it : for that 
 was more than two months ago. At present 
 (December 11) matters are changed: the 
 true Florimel is said to be just on the point 
 of embarking at Leith in Mr. Constal)le*s 
 ship : and we must again consult Spenser 
 to see what is likely to happen in this^case 
 to the false Florimel : 
 
310 WAl.I.ADMOR. 
 
 Til en did he set her by that snowy one, 
 liike the true saint beside the image set, 
 Of both their beauties to make paragone 
 And triall — whether should the honor get. 
 Streightway, so soone as both together met, 
 Th' enchanted damzell vanisht into nought : 
 Her snowy substance melted as with heat ; 
 Ne of that goodly hew remayned ought, 
 But th' ennptie girdle which about her wast was wrought. 
 Faery Queene, B. V. C 3. 
 
 Shocking ! I abominate the omen ; 
 a7rtVTuo-54. What, my two volumes, post 8vo. 
 " vanish into nought ? " Delectable news 
 this ! — No, no : Spenser may be a pretty 
 fair prophet as prophets went in Queen 
 Elizabeth's days : about the reviewers I 
 hope he is : but prophets, I trust, have their 
 weak points as well as other people. The 
 Sortes Spenseriajice are no Sortes Vir- 
 gilianae. And, if my prayers to Neptune 
 are heard, the case will take a different 
 turn. I wish for no ill luck to Mr. Con- 
 stable — his ship — or her cargo. I wish 
 him a safe voyage : but I hope it is no sin 
 to wish him a long one. It could do no 
 harm to him — his ship — ship's company — 
 
WAI.LADMOK. 311 
 
 or Florimel, if Neptune would order a 
 tumbling sea and a good stiff South- West 
 wind to blow them safe and sound into 
 some excellent harbour on the coast of 
 Norway. In that harbour, good Neptune, 
 keep Mr. Constable for a month. By that 
 time I and my snowy Florimel shall have 
 transacted all our business. The two Flo- 
 rimels will never meet ; and the fatal 
 results of ' melting,' and ' vanishing into 
 nought,' will thus be obviated. That done, 
 by all means I would have Neptune take 
 off the embargo, and let Mr. Constable out. 
 The German Florimel will have cleared 
 the stage ; and no one will witness with 
 more pleasure than myself the spectacle of 
 the true Scotch Florimel resuming the 
 girdle which she can have dropped only 
 from accident or venial negligence. 
 
 THE END. 
 
ERRATUM. 
 
 In the Advertisement (Vol. I.) for Koni^sbwrg. read Konig;sbfrs^. 
 
December 18'-<>4. 
 
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