|
||||||||
Man, I whiles wonder at ye, said Alan. This is a Campbell thats been killed. Well, itll be tried in Inverara, the Campbells head place; with fifteen Campbells in the jury-box and the biggest Campbell of all (and thats the Duke) sitting cocking on the bench. Justice, David? The same justice, by all the world, as Glenure found awhile ago at the roadside. This frightened me a little, I confess, and would have frightened me more if I had known how nearly exact were Alans predictions; indeed it was but in one point that he exaggerated, there being but eleven Campbells on the jury; though as the other four were equally in the Dukes dependence, it mattered less than might appear. Still, I cried out that he was unjust to the Duke of Argyle, who (for all he was a Whig) was yet a wise and honest nobleman. Hoot! said Alan, the mans a Whig, nae doubt; but I would never deny he was a good chieftain to his clan. And what would the clan think if there was a Campbell shot, and naebody hanged, and their own chief the Justice General? But I have often observed, says Alan, that you Low-country bodies have no clear idea of whats right and wrong. At this I did at last laugh out aloud, when to my surprise, Alan joined in, and laughed as merrily as myself. Na, na, said he, were in the Hielands, David; and when I tell ye to run, take my word and run. Nae doubt its a hard thing to skulk and starve in the Heather, but its harder yet to lie shackled in a red-coat prison. I asked him whither we should flee; and as he told me to the Lowlands, I was a little better inclined to go with him; for, indeed, I was growing impatient to get back and have the upper-hand of my uncle. Besides, Alan made so sure there would be no question of justice in the matter, that I began to be afraid he might be right. Of all deaths, I would truly like least to die by the gallows; and the picture of that uncanny instrument came into my head with extraordinary clearness (as I had once seen it engraved at the top of a pedlars ballad) and took away my appetite for courts of justice. Ill chance it, Alan, said I. Ill go with you. But mind you, said Alan, its no small thing. Ye maun lie bare and hard, and brook many an empty belly. Your bed shall be the moorcocks, and your life shall be like the hunted deers, and ye shall sleep with your hand upon your weapons. Ay, man, ye shall taigle many a weary foot, or we get clear! I tell ye this at the start, for its a life that I ken well. But if ye ask what other chance ye have, I answer: Nane. Either take to the heather with me, or else hang. And thats a choice very easily made, said I; and we shook hands upon it. And now lets take another keek at the red-coats, says Alan, and he led me to the north-eastern fringe of the wood. Looking out between the trees, we could see a great side of mountain, running down exceeding steep into the waters of the loch. It was a rough part, all hanging stone, and heather, and big scrogs of birchwood; and away at the far end towards Balachulish, little wee red soldiers were dipping up and down over hill and howe, and growing smaller every minute. There was no cheering now, for I think they had other uses for what breath was left them; but they still stuck to the trail, and doubtless thought that we were close in front of them. Alan watched them, smiling to himself. Ay, said he, theyll be gey weary before theyve got to the end of that employ! And so you and me, David, can sit down and eat a bite, and breathe a bit longer, and take a dram from my bottle. Then well strike for Aucharn, the house of my kinsman, James of the Glens, where I must get my clothes, and my |
||||||||
|
||||||||
|
||||||||
Copyright: All texts on Bibliomania are © Bibliomania.com Ltd, and may not be reproduced in any form without our written permission. See our FAQ for more details. | ||||||||