by James Hogg
CHAPTER VII.
I cast my net in Largo bay, And fishes I caught nine; There were three to roast, and three to boil, And three to bait the line.
_Old Song._
Saw never man so faynt a levand wycht, And na ferlye, for ouir excelland lycht Corruptis the witt, and garris the blude awail, Until the harte, thocht it na dainger aill, Quhen it is smorit memberis wirk not rychte, The dreadfulle terrour swa did him assaile.
_Pal. of Hon._
Berwick was then in the hands of the English, and commanded by SirThomas Musgrave, the captain of Roxburgh's cousin; so also was Norham,and all the forts between, on that side of the river. Notwithstanding ofthis, the power of the Scots predominated so much in the open fieldduring that reign, that this chain of forts proved finally of no availto Lord Musgrave, (or Sir Philip Musgrave, as he is generallydenominated,) though he had depended on keeping the communication open,else in victualling Roxburgh he had calculated basely. The garrison werealready reduced to the greatest extremes; they were feeding on theirhorses and on salted hides; and, two or three days previous to this,their only communication with their countrymen had been cut off, theycould not tell how. It was at best only precarious, being carried on inthe following singular way.--The besieged had two communications withthe river, by secret covered ways from the interior of the fortress. Ineach of these they had a small windlass, that winded on and let off aline nearly a mile in length. The lines were very small, being made ofplaited brass wire; and, putting a buoy on a hook at the end of each oneof these, they let them down the water. Their friends knowing the veryspot where they stopped, watched, and put dispatches on the hooks, withfish, beef, venison, and every kind of convenience, which they pulled upbelow the water, sometimes for a whole night together; and though thisproved but a scanty supply for a whole garrison, it was for a long timequite regular, and they depended a good deal on it.
But one night it so chanced that an old fisherman, who fished for themonastery, had gone out with his coble by night to spear salmon in theriver. He had a huge blaze flaming in a grate that stood exalted overthe prow of his wherry; and with the light of that he pricked the salmonout of their deep recesses with great acuteness. As he was plying histask he perceived a fish of a very uncommon size and form scouring upthe river with no ordinary swiftness. At first he started, thinking hehad seen the devil: but a fisher generally strikes at every thing hesees in the water. He struck it with his barbed spear, called on Tweed a_leister_, and in a moment had it into his boat. It was an excellentsirloin of beef. The man was in utter amazement, for it was dead, andlay without moving, like other butcher meat; yet he was sure he saw itrunning up the water at full speed. He never observed the tiny line ofplaited wire, nor the hook, which indeed was buried in the lire; and wemay judge with what surprise he looked on this wonderful fish,--thisphenomenon of all aquatic productions. However, as it seemed to liepeaceably enough, and looked very well as a piece of beef, he resolvedto let it remain, and betake himself again to his business. Never wasthere an old man so bewildered as he was, when he again looked into theriver,--never either on Tweed or any other river on earth. Instead ofbeing floating _down_ the river peaceably in his boat, as one naturallyexpects to do, he discovered that he was running straight against thestream. He expected to have missed about fifty yards of the river by hisadventure with the beef; but--no!--instead of that he was about the samedistance advanced in his return up the stream. The windlass at thecastle, and the invisible wire line, of which he had no conception,having been still dragging him gradually up. "Saint Mary, the mother ofGod, protect and defend poor Sandy Yellowlees!" cried he; "What can bethe meaning of this? Is the world turned upside down? Aha! our auldfriend, Michael Scott, has some hand i' this! He's no to cree legs wi':I's be quits wi' him." With that he tumbled his beef again into thewater, which held on its course with great rapidity straight up thestream, while he and his boat returned quietly in the contrary andnatural direction.
"Aye, there it goes," cried Sandy, "straight on for Aikwood! I's warrantthat's for the warlock's an' the deil's dinner the morn. God be praisedI'm free o't, or I should soon have been there too!"
Old Sandy fished down the river, but he could kill no more salmon thatnight,--for his nerves had got a shock with this new species of fishingthat he could not overcome. He missed one; wounded another on the tail;and struck a third on the rig-back, where no leister can pierce a fish,till he made him spring above water. Sandy grew chagrined at himself andthe warlock, Michael Scott, too--for this last was what he called "areal prime fish," Sandy gripped the leister a little firmer, clenchedhis teeth, and drew his bonnet over his eyes to shield them from theviolence of his blaze. He then banned the wizard into himself, anddetermined to kill the next fish that made his appearance. But, just ashe was keeping watch in this guise, he perceived another fish somethinglike the former, but differing in some degree, coming swagging up theriver full speed. "My heart laup to my teeth," said Sandy, "when I sawit coming, and I heaved the leister, but durstna strike; but I lookitweel, an' saw plainly that it was either a side o' mutton or venison, Icouldna tell whilk. But I loot it gang, an' shook my head. 'Aha,Michael, lad,' quo' I, 'ye hae countit afore your host for aince! AuldSandy has beguiled ye. But ye weel expeckit to gie him a canter to hellthe night.' I rowed my boat to the side, an' made a' the haste hame Icould, for I thought auld Michael had taen the water to himsel thatnight."
Sandy took home his few fish, and went to sleep, for all was quiet aboutthe abbey and the cloisters of his friends, the monks; and when he awokenext morning he could scarcely believe the evidence of his own senses,regarding what he had seen during the night. He arose and examined hisfishes, and could see nothing about them that was not about othersalmon. Still he strongly suspected they too might be some connectionsof Michael's,--something illusory, if not worse; and took care to eatnone of them himself, delivering them all to the cook of the monastery.The monks ate them, and throve very well; and as Sandy had come by nobodily harm, he determined to try the fishing once again, and if he metwith any more such fish of passage to examine them a little better. Hewent out with his boat, light, and fish-spear as usual; and scarcely hadhe taken his station, when he perceived one of a very uncommon natureapproaching. He did not strike at it, but only put his leister-grainsbefore it as if to stop its course, when he found the pressure againstthe leister very strong. On pulling the leister towards him, one of thebarbs laid hold of the line by which the phenomenon was led; and notbeing able to get rid of it, he was obliged to pull it into the boat. Itwas a small cask of Malmsey wine; and at once, owing to the way it wasdrawn out, he discovered the hook and line fastened to the end of it.These he disengaged with some difficulty, the pull being so strong andconstant; and the mystery was thus found out. In a few minutesafterwards he seized a large sheaf of arrows; and some time after, atconsiderable intervals, a number of excellent sides of beef and venison.
Sandy Yellowlees saw that he could now fish to some purpose, and formeda resolution of being the last man in the world to tell his countrymenof this resource that the enemy had. The thing of which he was mostafraid was a discovery. He knew that the articles would soon be missed,and that his light would betray him; and then a flight of arrows, oreven a single one, from a lurking foe at the side of the river, wouldput an end to his fishing for ever. Such an opportunity was not to begiven up, notwithstanding of this danger; so, after much prying, both byday and by night, Sanders found that at an abrupt crook in the water,whatever the line brought up came close to the side, and when the waterwas low it even trailed them over a point of level sand-bed quite dry.This was a joyous discovery for Sandy. He had nothing ado but to saildown in his boat when it grew dark, and lie lurking at this crook in thewater, and make a prey of whatever came within his reach. The very firstnight he filled his boat half full of valuable stuff. There was anecessity for disposing of a part of this, and Sandy was obliged to averthat he had discovered a hidden sto
re belonging to the English; and,moreover, he hinted that he could supply the towns of Kelso andRoxburgh, the abbey of the one and the priory of the other, for sometime to come. Great was the search that was made about the banks of theriver, but no one could find the store; yet Sanders Yellowlees continuedto supply the market with luxuries, tho' no one knew how. Intelligencewas sent down the stream, with the buoys, of the seizure of theprovisions, and of the place where they were taken off, which they knewfrom the failure of the weight they were pulling to be always at thesame place. The news also spread of Sandy's stores, and both reached thesecret friends of the English, from whom the provisions were nightlysent to their besieged friends and benefactors, with all the caution andsecrecy possible, it being given them to understand that on that supplyalone depended the holding out of the fortress.
Many schemes were now tried to entrap Sandy, but all without effect; forthe Scots had a strong post surrounding that very point where Sandycaught all his spoil. It was impossible to reach it but by a boat; andno boat was allowed on the river but that one that belonged to theabbey. At length an English trooper undertook to seize this olddepredator. Accordingly, in the dead of the night, when the lines camedown, he seized them both, twisted them into one, and walked silently upthe side of the river until he came nigh to the spot where the Scotslines on each side joined the stream. He then put the two hooks into hisbuff belt, and committing himself to the water, was dragged in silenceand perfect safety up the pool between the outposts.
The first turn above that was the point where Sandy lay watching. He hadonly seized one prey that night, and that was of no great value,--forthey had given over sending up victuals to enrich an old Scots rascal,as they termed honest Sanders. He was glad when he saw the wake of aheavy burden coming slowly towards him. "This is a sack o' sweet-meats,"said he to himself: "It must be currans an' raisins, an' sic fine thingsas are na injured by the fresh water. I shall get a swinging price fromthe abbey-men for them, to help wi' their Christmas pies."
No sooner did this huge load touch the land, than Sandy seized it withall expedition; but, to his inexpressible horror, the sack of sweetmeatsseized him in its turn, and that with such potence that he wasinstantaneously overpowered. He uttered one piercing cry, and no more,before the trooper gagged and pinioned him. The Scottish lines werealarmed, and all in motion, and the troops on both sides were crowdingto the bank of the stream. A party was approaching the spot where thetwain were engaged in the unequal struggle. To return down the streamwith his prisoner, as he intended, was impracticable; so the trooper hadno alternative left but that of throwing himself into Sandy's boat, withits owner in his arms, shoving her from the side into the deep, andtrusting himself to the strength of the wire-lines. As the windlasseswere made always to exert the same force and no more, by resisting thatthey could be stopped; so by pushing the boat from the side in thedirection of the castle, the line being slackened, that again set themagoing with great velocity; and though they soon slackened in swiftness,the trooper escaped with his prisoner undiscovered, and, by degrees, wasdragged up to the mouth of the covered way that led through or under thehill on which the castle stood; and there was poor Sanders Yellowleesdelivered into the hands of his incensed and half-famished enemies. Itwas he that was hanged over the wall of the castle on the day that thefive English yeomen were executed.[1]
[1] As there can be no doubt of the authenticity of this part of theCurate's tale, these secret passages must have been carried under groundall the way from the castle to the junction of the two rivers; and it issaid that a tradition still exists on the spot, that these vaulted pathshave often been discovered by former inhabitants.
The English now conceived that their secret was undiscovered, and thattheir sufferings would forthwith be mitigated by the supply drawn bytheir lines. They commenced briskly and successfully; but, alas! theirsuccess was of short duration. Sanders' secret became known to the Scotsarmy. The night-watchers had often seen the old man's boat leaning onthe shore at that point at all hours of the night; for he was alwaysfree to go about plodding for fish when he pleased. His cry was heard atthat spot, and the boat was now missing: the place was watched, and intwo days the Englishmen's secret, on which they so much relied, wasdiscovered, and quite cut off; and that powerful garrison was now leftwith absolute famine staring them in the face.
As in all cases of utter privation, the men grew ungovernable. Theirpassions were chafed, and foamed like the ocean before the commencementof a tempest, foreboding nothing but anarchy and commotion. Parties wereformed of the most desperate opposition to one another, and every onegrew suspicious of his neighbour. Amid all this tempest of passion amutiny broke out:--a strong party set themselves to deliver up thefortress to the Scots. But through such a medley of jarring opinionswhat project could succeed? The plot was soon discovered, thering-leaders secured, and Sir Stephen Vernon, Musgrave's most tried andintimate friend, found to be at the head of it. No pen can do justice tothe astonishment manifested by Musgrave when the treachery of his dearfriend was fully proven. His whole frame and mind received a shock as byelectricity, and he gazed around him in moody madness, as not knowingwhom to trust, and as if he deemed those around him were going to be hisassassins.
"Wretch that I am!" cried he, "What is there more to afflict and rendthis heart? Do I breathe the same air? Do I live among the same men? DoI partake of the same nature and feelings as I was wont? My own friendand brother Vernon, has he indeed lifted up his hand against me, andbecome one with my enemies? Whom now shall I trust? Must my dearesthopes--my honour, and the honour of my country, be sacrificed todisaffection and treachery? Oh Vernon--my brother Vernon, how art thoufallen!"
"I confess my crime," said Vernon; and I submit to my fate, since acrime it must be deemed. But it was out of love and affection to you,that your honour might not stoop to our haughty enemies. To hold out thefortress is impossible, and to persevere in the attempt utter depravity.Suppose you feed on one another, before the termination of the Christmasholidays, the remnant that will be left will not be able to guard thesallying ports, even though the ramparts are left unmanned. In a fewdays I shall see my brave young friend and companion in arms, yourbrother, disgracefully put down, and ere long the triumphant Scotsenter, treading over the feeble remains of this yet gallant army. I maybide a traitor's blame, and be branded with a traitor's name, but it wasto save my friends that I strove; for I tell you, and some of you willlive to see it, to hold out the castle is impossible."
"It is false!" cried Musgrave. "It is false! It is false!" cried everyvoice present in the judgment-hall, with frantic rage; and all thepeople, great and small, flew on the culprit to tear him to pieces; fortheir inveteracy against the Scots still grew with their distress.
"It is false! It is false!" shouted they. "Down with the traitor! soonershall we eat the flesh from our own bones than deliver up the fortressto the Scots! Down with the false knave! down with the traitor!"--and,in the midst of a tumult that was quite irresistible, Vernon was borneup on their shoulders, and hurried to execution, smiling with derisionat their madness, and repeating their frantic cries in mockery. It wasin vain that the commander strove to save his friend,--as well might hehave attempted to have stemmed the river in its irresistible coursesingle-handed. Vernon and his associates were hanged like dogs, amidshouts of execration, and their bodies flung into a pit. When this wasaccomplished, the soldiers waved their caps, and cried out, "So fare itwith all who take part with our hateful enemies!"
Musgrave shed tears at the fate of his brave companion, andthenceforward was seized with gloomy despondency; for he saw thatsubordination hung by a thread so brittle that the least concussionwould snap it asunder, and involve all in inextricable confusion. Hiscountenance and manner underwent a visible change, and he often startedon the approach of any one toward him, and laid his hand on his sword.The day appointed by the Douglas for the execution of Sir Richard,provided the castle was not delivered up before that period, was fastapproaching,--an event
that Musgrave could not look forward to withoutdistraction; and it was too evident to his associates that his bravemind was so torn by conflicting passions, that it stood in great dangerof being rooted up for ever.
It is probable that at this time he would willingly have complied withthe dictates of nature, and saved the life of his brother; but to havetalked of yielding up the fortress to the Scots at that period wouldonly have been the prelude to his being torn in pieces. It was no moretheir captain's affair of love and chivalry that influenced them, butdesperate animosity against their besiegers; and every one called aloudfor succours. Communication with their friends was impracticable, butthey hoped that their condition was known, and that succours would soonappear.--Alas, their friends in Northumberland had enough ado to defendthemselves, nor could they do it so effectually but that their landswere sometimes harried to their very doors. The warden, with his hardymountaineers, was indefatigable; and the English garrison were now soclosely beleaguered, that all chance of driving a prey from the countryfaded from their hopes. Never was the portcullis drawn up, nor thedraw-bridge at either end let down, that intelligence was notcommunicated by blast of bugle to the whole Scottish army, who wereinstantly on the alert. The latter fared sumptuously, while those withinthe walls were famishing; and at length the day appointed for theexecution of Sir Richard drew so near that three days only were to run.
It had been customary for the English, whenever the Scots sent out aherald, bearing the flag of truce, to make any proposal whatsoever, tosalute him with a flight of arrows; all communication or listening toproposals being strictly forbidden by the captain, on pain of death.However, that day, when the Douglas' herald appeared on the risingground, called the Hill of Barns, Musgrave caused answer him by acorresponding flag, hoping it might be some proposal of a ransom for thelife of his beloved brother, on which the heralds had an interchange ofwords at the draw-bridge. The Scottish herald made demand of the castlein his captain's name, and added, that the Douglas requested it might bedone instantly, to save the life of a brave and noble youth, whom hewould gladly spare, but could not break his word and his oath that heshould suffer. He farther assured the English captain, that it was invain for him to sacrifice his brother, for that he had the means in hispower to bring him under subjection the day following, if he chose.
A council of the gentlemen in the castle was called. Every one spoke inanger, and treated the demand with derision. Musgrave spoke not a word;but, with a look of unstable attention on every one that spoke,collected their verdicts, and in a few minutes this answer was returnedto the requisition of the Scots.
"If Sir Philip Musgrave himself, and every English knight and gentlemanin the castle were now in the hands of the Douglas, and doomed to thesame fate of their brave young friend, still the Douglas should notgain his point,--the castle would not be delivered up. The garrisonscorn his proposals, they despise his threats, and they hold his powerat defiance. Such tender mercies as he bestows, such shall heexperience. He shall only take the castle by treading over the breastsof the last six men that remain alive in it."
This was the general answer for the garrison--in the meantime Musgraverequested, as a personal favour of the Douglas, that he might see andcondole with his brother one hour before his fatal exit. The request wasreadily complied with, and every assurance of safe conduct andprotection added. The Douglas' pavilion stood on the rising ground,between the castle and the then splendid city of Roxburgh, a positionfrom which he had a view of both rivers, and all that passed around thecastle, and in the town; but, since the commencement of winter he hadlodged over night in a tower that stood in the middle of the High-town,called the King's House, that had prisons underneath, and was stronglyguarded; but during the day he continued at the pavilion, in order tokeep an eye over the siege.
To this pavilion, therefore, Musgrave was suffered to pass, with onlyone knight attendant; and all the way from the draw-bridge to the tentthey passed between two files of armed soldiers, whose features, forms,and armour exhibited a strange contrast. The one rank was made up of MarHighlanders, men short of stature, with red locks, high cheek bones, andlooks that indicated a ferocity of nature; the other was composed ofLowlanders from the dales of the south and the west; men clothed ingrey, with sedate looks, strong athletic frames, and faces of blunt andhonest bravery. Musgrave weened himself passing between the ranks of twodifferent nations, instead of the vassals of one Scottish nobleman. Atthe pavilion, the state, splendour, and number of attendant knights andsquires amazed him; but by them all he was received with the mostcourteous respect.
Sir Richard was brought up from the vaults of the King's House to thetent, as the most convenient place for the meeting with his brother, andfor the guards to be stationed around them; and there, being placed inone of the apartments of the pavilion, his brother was ushered in tohim. No one was present at the meeting; but, from an inner apartment,all that passed between them was overheard. Musgrave clasped his youngerbrother in his arms; the other could not return the embrace, for hischains were not taken off; but their meeting was passionately affecting,as the last meeting between two brothers must always be. When the elderretired a step, that they might gaze on each other, what a difference inappearance!--what a contrast they exhibited to each other! The man inchains, doomed to instant death, had looks of blooming health, and manlyfortitude: The free man, the renowned Lord Musgrave, governor of theimpregnable but perilous castle of Roxburgh, and the affianced lord andhusband to the richest and most beautiful lady in England, was thepicture of haggard despair and misfortune. He appeared but the remnant,the skeleton of the hero he had lately been; and a sullen instabilityof mind flashed loweringly in his dark eye. His brother was almostterrified at his looks, for he regarded him sometimes as with darksuspicion, and as if he dreaded him to be an incendiary.
"My dear brother," said Sir Richard, "what is it that hangs upon yourmind, and discomposes you so much? You are indeed an altered man since Ihad the misfortune to be taken from you. Tell me, how fares all withinthe castle?"
"Oh, very well; quite well, brother. All perfectly secure--quite wellwithin the castle." But as he said this he strode rapidly backward andforward across the small apartment, and eyed the canvass on each sidewith a grin of rage, as if he suspected that it concealed listeners; norwas he wrong in his conjecture, though it was only caused by the frenzyof habitual distrust. "But, how can I be otherwise than discomposed,brother," continued he, "when I am in so short a time to see yousacrificed in the prime of youth and vigour, to my own obstinacy andpride, perhaps."
"I beg that you will not think of it, or take it at all to heart," saidthe youth; "I have made up my mind, and can look death in the facewithout unbecoming dismay. I should have preferred dying on the field ofhonour, with my sword in my hand, rather than being hanged up betweenthe hosts, like a spy, or common malefactor. But let the tears that areshed for Richard be other than salt brine from the eyes of theEnglishmen. Let them be the drops of purple blood from the hearts of ourenemies. I charge you, by the spirits of our fathers, whom I am soshortly to join, and by the blessed Trinity, that you act in this tryingdilemma as the son of the house you represent. Shed not a tear for me,but revenge my death on the haughty house of Douglas."
"There is my hand! Here is my sword! But the vital motion, or the lightof reason, who shall ensure to me till these things are fulfilled. Nay,who shall ensure them to this wasted frame for one moment? I am not theman I have been, brother: But here I will swear to you, by all the hostof heaven, to revenge your death, or die in the fulfilment of my vow.Yes, fully will I revenge it! I will waste! waste! waste! and the firethat is begun within shall be quenched, and no tongue shall utter it!Ha! ha, ha! shall it not be so, brother?"
"This is mere raving, brother; I have nothing from this."
"No, it is not; for there is a fire that you wot not of. But I willquench it, though with my own blood. Brother, there is one thing I wishto know, and for that purpose did I come hither. Do you think it behove
sme to suffer you to perish in this affair?"
"That depends entirely upon your internal means of defence," answeredRichard. "If there is a certainty, or even a probability, that thecastle can hold until relieved by our friends, which will not likely beprevious to the time you have appointed for them to attempt it; why,then, I would put no account on the life of one man. Were I in yourplace, I would retain my integrity in opposition to the views ofDouglas; but if it is apparent to you, who know all your own resources,that the castle must yield, it is needless to throw away the life ofyour brother, sacrificing it to the pride of opposition for a day or aweek."
Musgrave seemed to be paying no regard to this heroic and disinterestedreasoning,--for he was still pacing to and fro, gnawing his lip; and ifhe was reasoning, or thinking at all, was following out the train of hisown unstable mind.--"Because, if I were sure," said he, "that you feltthat I was acting unkindly or unnaturally by you, by the Rood, I wouldcarve the man into fragments that would oppose my submission to save mybrother. I would teach them that Musgrave was not to be thwarted in hiscommand of the castle that was taken by his own might and device, and tothe government of which his sovereign appointed him. If a dog shoulddare to bay at me in opposition to my will, whatever it were, I wouldmuzzle the hound, and make him repent his audacity."
"My noble brother," said Richard, "what is the meaning of this frenzy?No one is opposing your will, and I well believe no one within thecastle will attempt it--"
"Because they dare not!" said he, furiously, interrupting his brother:"They dare not, I tell you! But if they durst, what do you think I woulddo? Ha, ha, ha!"
Douglas overheard all this, and judging it a fit time to interfere,immediately a knight opened the door of the apartment where the twobrothers conversed, and announced the Lord Douglas. Musgrave composedhimself with wonderful alacrity; and the greeting between the two greatchiefs, though dignified, was courteous and apparently free of rancouror jealousy. Douglas first addressed his rival as follows:
"I crave pardon, knights, for thus interrupting you. I will again leaveyou to yourselves; but I judged it incumbent on me, as a warrior and aknight of honour, to come, before you settled finally on your mode ofprocedure, and conjure you, Lord Philip Musgrave, to save the life ofyour brother--"
"Certainly you will not put down my brave brother, Lord Douglas?" saidMusgrave, interrupting him.
"As certainly," returned he, "as you put down my two kinsmen, Clelandand Douglas of Rowlaw, in mere spite and wanton cruelty, because theywere beloved and respected by me. I am blameless, as it was yourself whobegan this unwarrantable system, and my word is passed. Sir Richard mustdie, unless the keys of the castle are delivered to me before Friday atnoon. But I shall be blameless in any thing further. I conjure you tosave him; and as an inducement, assure you, by the honour of knighthood,that your resistance is not only unnatural, but totally useless; for Ihave the means of commanding your submission when I please."
"Lord Douglas, I defy thee!" answered Musgrave. "You hold the life inyour hand that I hold dearest on earth, save one. For these two would Ilive or die: but, since thy inveterate enmity will not be satisfiedwith ought short of the life of my only brother, take it; and may mycurse, and the curse of heaven, be your guerdon. It shall only renderthe other doubly dear to me; and, for her sake, will I withstand yourproud pretensions; and, as she enjoined me, hold this castle, with allits perils, till the expiry of the Christmas holidays, in spite of you.I defy your might and your ire. Let your cruel nature have its fullsway. Let it be gorged with the blood of my kinsfolk; it shall onlyserve to make my opposition the stronger and more determined. For thesake of her whom I serve, the mistress of my heart and soul, I will holdmy resolution.--Do your worst!"
"So be it!" said Douglas. "Remember that I do not, like you, fight onlyin the enthusiasm of love and chivalry, but for the very being of myhouse. I will stick at no means of retaliating the injuries you havedone to me and mine, however unjustifiable these may appear to some,--noact of cruelty, to attain the prize for which I contend. Little do youknow what you are doomed to suffer, and that in a short space of time.I again conjure you to save the life of your brother, by yielding up tome your ill-got right, and your conditions shall be as liberal as youcan desire."
"I will yield you my estate to save my brother, but not the castle ofRoxburgh. Name any other ransom but that, and I will treat with you. Askwhat I can grant with honour, and command it."
"Would you give up the life of a brave only brother to gratify thevanity and whim of a romantic girl, who, if present herself, would pleadfor the life of Sir Richard, maugre all other considerations, else shehas not the feelings of woman? What would you give, Lord Musgrave, tosee that lady, and hear her sentiments on the subject."
"I would give much to see her. But, rather than see her in this place, Iwould give all the world and my life's blood into the bargain. But ofthat I need not have any fear. You have conjurors among you, it is said,and witches that can raise up the dead, but their power extends not tothe living, else who of my race would have been left?"
"I have more power than you divine; and I will here give you a simplespecimen of it, to convince you how vain it is to contend with me. Youare waging war with your own vain imagination, and suffer all thiswretchedness for a thing that has neither being nor name."
Douglas then lifted a small gilded bugle that hung always at his swordbelt, the language of which was well known to all the army; and on thathe gave two blasts not louder than a common whistle, when instantly thedoor of the apartment opened, and there entered Lady Jane Howard,leaning on her female attendant, dressed in attire of princelymagnificence. "Lady Jane Howard!" exclaimed Sir Richard, starting up,and struggling with his fettered arms to embrace her. But when thevision met the eyes of Lord Musgrave, he uttered a shuddering cry ofhorror, and sprung with a convulsive leap back into the corner of thetent. There he stood, like the statue of distraction, with his raisedhands pressed to each side of his helmet, as if he had been strenuouslyholding his head from splitting asunder.
"So! Friend and foe have combined against me!" cried he wildly. "Earthand hell have joined their forces in opposition to one impotent humanthing! And what his crime? He presumed on no more than what he did, andcould have done; but who can stand against the powers of darkness, andthe unjust decrees of heaven? Yes; unjust! I say unjust! Down with alldecrees to the centre! There's no truth in heaven! I weened there was,but it is as false as the rest! I say as false!--falser than both!--I'llbrave all the three! Ha, ha, ha!"
Douglas had brought Lady Jane the apparel, and commanded her to dress init; and, perceiving the stern, authoritative nature of the chief, shejudged it meet to comply. At first she entered with a languid dejectedlook, for she had been given to understand something of the ruefulnature of the meeting she was called on to attend. But when she heardthe above infuriated rhapsody, and turned her eyes in terror to look onthe speaker, whose voice she well knew, she uttered a scream andfainted. Douglas supported her in his arms; and Sir Richard, whose armswere in fetters, stood and wept over her. But Musgrave himself onlystrode to and fro over the floor of the pavilion, and uttered now andthen a frantic laugh. "That is well!--That is well!" exclaimed he; "Justas it should be! I hope she will not recover. Surely she will not?" andthen bending himself back, and clasping his hands together, he criedfervently: "O mother of God, take her to thyself while she is yet pureand uncontaminated, or what heart of flesh can endure the prospect? Whata wreck in nature that lovely form will soon be! Oh-oh-oh!"
The lady's swoon was temporary. She soon began to revive, and castunsettled looks around in search of the object that had so overpoweredher; and, at the request of Sir Richard, who perceived his brother'sintemperate mood, she was removed. She was so struck with the alteredfeatures, looks, and deportment of the knight, who in her imaginationwas every thing that was courteous, comely, and noble, and whom she hadlong considered as destined to be her own, that her heart was unable tostand the shock, and her removal
from his presence was an act ofhumanity.
She was supported out of the tent by Douglas and her female relation;but when Musgrave saw them leading her away, he stepped rapidly inbefore them and interposed; and, with a twist of his body, put his handtwo or three times to the place where the handle of his sword shouldhave been. The lady lifted her eyes to him, but there was no conceptionin that look, and her lovely face was as pale as if the hand of deathhad passed over it.
Any one would have thought that such a look from the lady of his love,in such a forlorn situation, and in the hands of his mortal enemy, wouldhave totally uprooted the last fibres of his distempered mind. But whocan calculate on the medicine suited to a diseased spirit? The cureseven of some bodily diseases are those that would poison a healthyframe. So did it prove in this mental one. He lifted his hand from hisleft side, where he had thrust it convulsively in search of his sword,and clapping it on his forehead, he seemed to resume the command ofhimself at once, and looked as calm and serene as in the most collectedmoments of his life.
When they were gone, he said to Sir Richard, in the hearing of theguards: "Brother, what is the meaning of this? What English traitor hasbetrayed that angelic maid into the hands of our enemy?"
"To me it is incomprehensible," said Sir Richard: "I was told of it bymy keeper last night, but paid no regard to the information, judging ita piece of wanton barbarity; but now my soul shudders at the rest of theinformation that he added."
"What more did the dog say?" said Musgrave.
"He said he had heard that it was resolved by the Douglasses, that, ifyou did not yield up the fortress and citadel freely, on or before theday of the conception of the Blessed Virgin, on that day at noon thelady of your heart should be exhibited in a state not to be named on astage erected on the top of the Bush-law, that faces the western tower,and is divided from it only by the moat; and there before your eyes, andin sight of both hosts, compelled to yield to that disgrace whichbarbarians only could have conceived; and then to have her nose cut off,her eyes put out, and her beauteous frame otherwise disfigured."
"He dares not for his soul's salvation do such a deed!" said Musgrave:"No; there's not a bloodhound that ever mouthed the air of his cursedcountry durst do a deed like that. And though every Douglas is a houndconfest, where is the mongrel among them that durst but howl of such anoutrage in nature? Why, the most absolute fiend would shrink from it:Hell would disown it; and do you think the earth would bear it?"
"Brother, suspend your passion, and listen to the voice of reason and ofnature. Your cause is lost, but not your honour. You took, and have keptthat fortress, to the astonishment of the world. But for what do younow fight? or what can your opposition avail? Let me beseech you not tothrow away the lives of those you love most on earth thus wantonly, butcapitulate on honourable terms, and rescue your betrothed bride and youronly brother from the irritated Scots. Trust not that they will stick atany outrage to accomplish their aim. Loth would I be to know our namewere dishonoured by any pusillanimity on the part of my brother; butdesperate obstinacy is not bravery. I, therefore, conjure you to saveme, and her in whom all your hopes of future felicity are bound up."
Musgrave was deeply affected; and, at that instant, before he had timeto reply, Douglas re-entered.
"Scots lord, you have overcome me," said he, with a pathos that couldnot be exceeded: "Yes you have conquered, but not with your sword. Noton the field, nor on the wall, have ye turned the glaive of Musgrave;but either by some infernal power, or else by chicanery and guile, theeverlasting resources of your cursed nation. It boots not me to know howyou came possessed of this last and only remaining pledge of mysubmission. It is sufficient you have it. I yield myself your prisoner;let me live or die with those two already in your power."
"No, knight, that must not be," replied Douglas. "You are here on safeconduct and protection; my honour is pledged, and must not be forfeited.You shall return in safety to your kinsmen and soldiers, and act bytheir counsel. It is not prisoners I want, but the castle of Roxburgh,which is the right of my sovereign and my nation,--clandestinely taken,and wrongously held by you. I am neither cruel nor severe beyond thesmall range that points to that attainment; but that fortress I willhave,--else wo be to you, and all who advise withholding it, as well asall their connexions to whom the power of Scotland can extend. If thecastle is not delivered up before Friday at noon, your brother shallsuffer,--that you already know. But at the same hour on the day of theConception, if it is still madly and wantonly detained, there shall besuch a scene transacted before your eyes as shall blur the annals of theBorder for ever."
"If you allude to any injury intended to the lady who is your prisoner,"said Musgrave, "the cruellest fiend in hell could not have the heart tohurt such angelic purity and loveliness; and it would degrade the honourof knighthood for ever to suffer it. Cruel as you are, you dare notinjure a hair of her head."
"Talk not of cruelty in me," said Douglas: "If the knight who is herlover will not save her, how should I? You have it in your power, andcertainly it is you that behove to do it; even granting that the stakesfor which we fought were equal, the task of redemption and the blamewould rest solely with you. And how wide is the difference between theprizes for which we contend? I for my love, my honour, and the veryexistence of my house and name; and you for you know not what,--themiserable pride of opposition. Take your measures, my lord. I will notbe mocked."
Douglas left the apartment. Musgrave also arose and embraced hisbrother, and, as he parted from him, he spoke these ominous words:"Farewell, my dear Richard. May the angels that watch over honour beyour guardians in the hour of trial. You know not what I have to endurefrom tormentors without and within. But hence we meet not again in thisstate of existence. The ties of love must be broken, and the bands ofbrotherly love burst asunder,--nevertheless I will save you--A longfarewell my brother."
Musgrave was then conducted back to the draw-bridge, between two longfiles of soldiers as before, while all the musicians that belongedeither to the army or the city were ranked up in a line behind them, onthe top of the great precipice that over-hangs the Teviot, playing, onall manner of instruments, "_Turn the Blue Bonnets wha can, wha can_,"with such a tremendous din that one would have thought every stone inthe walls of Roxburgh was singing out the bravado.