by Jane Porter
Chapter XXI.
Loch Lomond.
Profound as was the rest of Wallace, yet the first clarion of the larkawakened him. The rosy dawn shone in at the window, and a fresh breezewooed him with its inspiring breath to rise and meet it. But theimpulse was in his own mind; he needed nothing outward to call him toaction. Rising immediately, he put on his glittering hauberk; andissuing from the tower, raised his bugle to his lips, and blew sorousing a blast, that in an instant the whole rock was covered withsoldiers.
Wallace placed his helmet on his head, and advanced toward them, justas Edwin had joined him, and Sir Roger Kirkpatrick appeared from thetower. "Blessed be this morn!" cried the old knight. "My swordsprings from its scabbard to meet it; and ere its good steel besheathed again," continued he, shaking it sternly, "what deaths may dyeits point!"
Wallace shuddered at the ferocity with which his colleague contemplatedthis feature of war from which every humane soldier would seek to turnhis thoughts, that he might encounter it with the steadiness of a man,and not the irresolution of a woman. To hail the field of blood withthe fierceness of a hatred eager for the slaughter of its victim--toknow any joy in combat but that each contest might render another lessnecessary--did not enter into the imagination of Wallace until he hadheard and seen the infuriate Kirkpatrick. He talked of the comingbattle with horrid rapture, and told the young Edwin he should that daysee Loch Lomond red with English blood.
Offended at such savageness, but without answering him, Wallace drewtoward Murray, and calling to Edwin, ordered him to march at his side.The youth seemed glad of the summons, and Wallace was pleased toobserve it, as he thought that a longer stay with one who so grosslyovercharged the feelings of honest patriotism, might breed disgust inhis innocent mind against a cause which had so furious and thereforeunjust a defender.
"Justice and mercy ever dwell together," said he to Edwin, who now drewnear him; "for universal love is the parent of justice, as well as ofmercy. But implacable Revenge! whence did she spring, but from thehead of Satan himself?"
Though their cause appeared the same, never were two spirits morediscordant than those of Wallace and Kirkpatrick. But Kirkpatrick didnot so soon discover the dissimilarity; as it is easier for purity todescry its opposite, than for foulness to apprehend that anything canbe purer than itself.
The forces being marshaled according to the preconcerted order, thethree commanders, with Wallace at their head, led forward.
They passed through the forest of Glenfinlass; and morning and eveningstill found them threading its unsuspected solitudes in unmolestedsecurity; night, too, watched their onward march.
The sun had just risen as the little band of patriots, the hope offreedom, emerged upon the eastern bank of Loch Lomond. The bases ofthe mountains were yet covered with the dispersing mist of the morning,and hardly distinguishable from the blue waters of the lake, whichlashed the shore. The newly-awakened sheep bleated from the hills, andthe umbrageous herbage, dropping dew, seemed glittering with a thousandfairy gems.
"Where is the man who would not fight for such a country?" exclaimedMurray, as he stepped over a bridge of interwoven trees, which crossedone of the mountain streams. "This land was not made for slaves. Lookat these bulwarks of nature! Every mountain-head which forms thischain of hills is an impregnable rampart against invasion. If Baliolhad possessed but half a heart, Edward might have returned even worsethan Caesar--without a cockle to decorate his helmet."
"Baliol has found the oblivion he incurred," returned Wallace; "hisson, perhaps, may better deserve the scepter of such a country. Let uscut the way, and he who merits the crown will soon appear to claim it."
"Then it will not be Edward Baliol!" rejoined Scrymgeour. "During theinconsistent reign of his father, I once carried a despatch to him fromScotland. He was then banqueting in all the luxuries of the Englishcourt; and such a voluptuary I never beheld! I left the scene offolly, only praying that so effeminate a prince might never disgracethe throne of our manly race of kings."
"If such be the tuition of our lords in the court of Edward--and wise isthe policy for his own views!" observed Ker, "what can we expect fromeven the Bruce? They were ever a nobler race than the Baliol; but badeducation and luxury will debase the most princely minds."
"I saw neither of the Bruce when I visited London," replied Scrymgeour;"the Earl of Carrick was at his house in Cleveland, and Robert Bruce,his eldest son, with the English army in Guienne. But they bore amanly character, particularly young Robert, to whom the troubadours ofAquitaine have given the flattering appellation of Prince of Chivalry."
"It would be more to his honor," interrupted Murray, "if he compelledthe English to acknowledge him as Prince of Scotland. With so muchbravery, how can he allow such a civetcat as Edward Baliol to bear awaythe title, which is his by the double right of blood and virtue?"
"Perhaps," said Wallace, "the young lion only sleeps! The time maycome, when both he and his father will rise from their lethargy, andthrow themselves at once into the arms of Scotland. To stimulate thedormant patriotism of these two princes, by showing them a subjectleading their people to liberty, is one great end of the victories Iseek. None other than a brave king can bind the various interests ofthis distracted country into one; and therefore, for fair Freedom'ssake, my heart turns toward the Bruces with most anxious hopes."
"For my part," cried Murray, "I have always thought the lady we willnot woo we have no right to pretend to. If the Bruces will not be atthe pains to snatch Scotland from drowning, I see no reason for makingthem a present of what will cost us many a wet jacket before we tug herfrom the waves. He that wins the day ought to wear the laurel; and so,once for all, I proclaim him King of good old Albin,** who will havethe glory of driving her oppressors beyond her dikes."
**Albin was the ancient name of Scotland.
Wallace did not hear this last sentiment of Murray's, as it was spokenin a lowered voice in the ear of Kirkpatrick. "I perfectly agree withyou," was the knight's reply; "and in the true Roman style, may thedeath of every Southron now in Scotland, and as many more as fatechooses to yield us, be the preliminary games of his coronation!"
Wallace, who heard this, turned to Kirkpatrick with a mild rebuke inhis eye. "Balaam blessed, when he meant to curse!" said he; "but somecurse, when they mean to bless. Such prayers are blasphemy. For, canwe expect a blessing on our arms, when all our invocations are forvengeance rather than victory?"
"Blood for blood is only justice!" returned Murray; "and how can you,noble Wallace, as a Scot, and as a man, imply any mercy to the villainswho stab us to the heart?"
"I plead not for them," replied Wallace, "but for the poor wretches whofollow their leaders, by force, to the field of Scotland; I would notinflict on them the cruelties we now resent. It is not to aggrieve,but to redress, that we carry arms. If we make not this distinction,we turn courage into a crime; and plant disgrace, instead of honor,upon the warrior's brow."
"I do not understand commiserating the wolves who have so long madehavoc in our country," cried Kirkpatrick; "methinks such maidenly mercyis rather or of place."
Wallace turned to him with a smile: "I will answer you, my valiantfriend, by adopting your own figure. It is that these Southron wolvesmay not confound us with themselves, that I wish to show in our conductrather the generous ardor of the faithful guardian of the fold, thanthe rapacious fierceness which equals them with the beasts of thedesert. As we are men and Scots, let the burden of our prayers be, thepreservation of our country, not the slaughter of our enemies! The oneis an ambition, with which angels may sympathize; the other, a horribledesire, which speaks the nature of fiends."
"In some cases this may be," replied Sir Roger, a little reconciled tothe argument, "but not in mine. My injury yet burns upon my cheek; andas nothing but the life blood of Cressingham can quench it, I willlisten no more to your doctrine till I am avenged. That done, I shallnot forget your lesson."
"Generous Ki
rkpatrick!" exclaimed Wallace, "nothing that is reallycruel can dwell with such manly candor. Say what you will, I can trustyour heart after this moment."
They had crossed the River Ennerie, and were issuing from between itsnarrow ridge of hills, when Wallace, pointing to a stupendous rockwhich rose in solitary magnificence in the midst of a vast plain,exclaimed, "There is Dumbarton Castle!-that citadel holds the fettersof Scotland; and if we break them there, every minor link will easilygive way."
The men uttered a shout of anticipated triumph at this sight; andproceeding, soon came in view of the fortifications which helmeted therock. As they approached, they discovered that it had two summits,being in a manner cleft in twain; the one side rising in a pyramidalform; while the other, of a more table-shape, sustained the ponderousbuildings of the fortress.
It was dusk when the little army arrived in the rear of a close thicketto a considerable length over the plain. On this spot Wallace restedhis men; and while they placed themselves under its covert till theappointed time of attack, he perceived through an opening in the wood,the gleaming of soldiers' arms on the ramparts, and fires beginning tolight on a lonely watchtower, which crowned the pinnacle of the highestrock.
"Poor fools!" exclaimed Murray; "like the rest of their brethren ofclay, they look abroad for evils, and prepare not for those which areeven at their doors!"
"That beacon-fire," cried Scrymgeour, "shall light us to theirchambers; and for once we thank them for their providence."
"That beacon-fire," whispered Edwin to Wallace, "shall light me tohonor! To-night, by your agreement, I shall call you brother, or liedead on the summit of those walls!"
"Edwin," said Wallace, "act as you say; and deserve not only to becalled my brother, but to be the first banneret of freedom in arms!"
He then turned toward the lines; and, giving his orders to eachdivision, directed them to seek repose on the surrounding heather, tillthe now glowing moon should have sunk her telltale light in the waves.