The Scottish Chiefs
Page 22
Chapter XXII.
Dumbarton Rock.
All obeyed the voice of their commander, and retired to rest. But theeyes of Edwin could not close; his eager spirit was already on thewalls of Dumbarton. His rapid mind anticipated the ascent of hisgeneral and his troop. But an imagination no less just than ardentsuggested the difficulties attending so small a force assailing soformidable a garrison, without some immediate knowledge of its relativesituations. A sudden thought struck him. He would mount that rockalone; he would seek to ascertain the place of Lord Mar's confinement;that not one life in Wallace's faithful band might be lost in a vaguesearch.
"Ah! my general," exclaimed he, "Edwin shall be the first to springthose ramparts; he shall tread that dangerous path alone; and when hehas thus proved himself no unworthy of thy confidence, he will returnto lead thee and thy soldiers to a sure victory, and himself to honorby thy side!"
This fervant apostrophe, breathed to the night alone, was no sooneruttered, than he stole from the thicket into which he had cast himselfto respose. He looked toward the embattled cliff; its summit stoodbright in the moonlight, but deep shadows lay beneath. "God be myspeed!" cried he, and wrapping himself in his plaid, so mixed its darkhues with the weeds and herbage at the base of the rock, that he madeits circuit without having attracted observation.
The south side seemed the easiest of ascent and by that he began hisdaring attempt. Having gained the height, he clambered behind abuttress, the shadow of which cast the wall into such black obscurity,that he crept safely through one of its crenelles, and dropping gentlyinward, alighted on his feet. Still keeping the shadowed side of thebattlements, he proceeded cautiously along, and so still was his motionthat he passed undiscovered, even by the sentinels who guarded thisquarter of the fortress.
He soon arrived at the open square before the citadel; it was yetoccupied by groups of Southron officers, gayly walking to and fro underthe light of the moon. In hopes of gaining some useful informationfrom their discourse, he concealed himself behind a chest of arrows;and as they passed backward and forward, distinctly heard them jestingeach other about divers fair dames of the country around. Theconversation terminated in a debate, whether or no the indifferencewhich their governor De Valence manifested to the majestic beauties ofthe Countess of Mar were real or assumed. A thousand free remarks weremade on the subject, and Edwin gathered sufficient from the discourse,to understand that the earl and countess were treated severely, andconfined in a large, square tower in the cleft of the rock.
Having learned all that he could expect from these officers, hespeeded, under the friendly shadow, toward the other side of thecitadel, and arrived just as the guard approached to relieve thesentinels of the northern postern. He laid himself close to theground, and happily overheard the word of the night, as it was given tothe new watch. This providential circumstances saved his life.
Finding no mode of egress from this place but by the postern at whichthe sentinel was stationed, or by attempting a passage through a smalladjoining tower, the door of which stood open, he considered a moment,and then deciding for the tower, stole unobserved into it. Fortunatelyno person was there; but Edwin found it full of spare arms, with two orthree vacant couches in different corners, where he supposed theofficers on guard occassionally reposed; several watch-cloaks lay onthe floor. He readily apprehended the use he might make of thiscircumstance, and throwing one of them over his shoulders climbed to alarge embrasure in the wall, and, forcing himself through it, droppedto a declivity on the other side, which shelved down to the cliff,wherein he saw the square tower.
He had scarcely alighted on firm ground, when a sentinel, followed bytwo others presented pikes, approached him, and demanded the word."Montjoy!" was his reply. "Why leap the embrasure?" said one. "Whynot enter by the postern?" demanded another. The conversation of theofficers had given him a hint, on which he had formed his answer."Love, my brave comrades," replied he, "seldom chooses even ways. I goon a message from a young ensign in the keep, to one of the Scottishdamsels in yonder tower. Delay me, and his vengeance will fall upon usall." "Good luck to you, my lad!" was their answer, and, with alightened step, he hastened toward the tower.
Not deeming it safe to seek an interview with any of the earl's family,he crept along the base of the structure, and across the works, till hereached the high wall that blocks up egress from the north. He foundthis formidable curtain constructed of fragments of rock, and for theconvenience of the guard, a sloping platform from within led to the topof the wall. On the other side it was perpendicular. A solitarysentinel stood there; and how to pass him was Edwin's next device. Toattack him would be desparate; being one of a chain of guards aroundthe interior of the fortress, his voice need only to be raised in theleast to call a regiment to his assistance, and Edwin might be seizedon the instant.
Aware of his danger, but not dismayed, the adventurous youth bethoughthim of his former excuse; and remembering a flask of spirits whichIreland had put into his pouch on leaving Glenfinlass, he affected tobe intoxicated, and staggering up to the man, accosted him in thecharacter of a servant of the garrison.
The sentinel did not doubt the appearance of the boy, and Edwin,holding out the flask, said that a pretty girl in the great tower hadnot only given him a long draught of the same good liquor but hadfilled his bottle, that he might not lack amusement, while hercompanion; one of Lady Mar's maids-in-waiting, was tying up a truelover's knot to send to his master in the garrison. The man believedEdwin's tale, and the more readily as he thrust the flask into hishand, and bade him drink. "Do not spare it," cried he; "the night ischilly, and I shall get more where that came from."
The unsuspecting Southron returned him a merry reply, and putting theflask to his head, soon drained its contents. They had the effectEdwin desired. The soldier became flustered, and impatient of hisduty. Edwin perceived it, and yawning, complained of drowsiness. "Iwould go to the top of that wall, and sleep sweetly in the moonbeams,"said he, "if any goodnatured fellow would meanwhile wait for my prettyScot!"
The half-inebriated Southron liked no better sport, and regardless ofduty, he promised to draw nearer the tower, and bring from the fairmessenger the expected token.
Having thus far gained his point, with an apparently staggering, butreally agile step, Edwin ascended the wall. A leap from this dizzyheight was his only way to rejoin Wallace. To retread his stepsthrough the fortress in safety would hardly be possible, and, besides,such a mode of retreat would leave him uninformed on the second objectof his enterprise-to know the most vulnerable side of the fortress. Hethrew himself along the summit of the wall as if to sleep. He lookeddown and saw nothing but the blackness of space, for here the broadexpanse of shadow rendered rocks and building of the same hue andlevel. But hope buoyed him in her arms, and turning his eyes towardthe sentinel, he observed him to have arrived within a few paces of thesquare tower. This was Edwin's moment: grasping the projecting stoneof the embattlement, and commending himself to Heaven, he threw himselffrom its summit, and fell a fearful depth to the cliffs beneath.
Meanwhile Wallace, having seen his brave followers depart to theirrespose, reclined himself along a pile of moss grown stones, which inthe days of the renowned Fingal, had covered the body of some valiantMorven chieftain. He fixed his wakeful eyes on the castle, nowillumined in every part by the fullness of the moon's luster, andconsidered which point would be most assailable by the scaling-laddershe had prepared. Every side seemed a precipice; the Leven, surroundingit on the north and the west; the Clyde, broad as a sea, on the south.The only place that seemed at all accessible was the side next the dikebehind which he lay. Here the ascent to the castellated part of therock, because most perpendicular, was the least guarded with outworks,and by this he determined to make the attempt as soon as the settingmoon should involve the garrison in darkness.
While he yet mused on what might be the momentous consequences of thesucceeding midnight hours, he thought he hea
rd a swift though cautiousfootstep. He raised himself, and laying his hands on his sword, saw afigure advancing toward him.
"Who goes there?" demanded Wallace.
"A faithful Scot," was the reply.
Wallace recognized the voice of Edwin.
"What has disturbed you? Why do you not take rest with the others?"
"That we may have it the surer to-morrow!" replied the youth. "I amjust returned from the summit of yonder rock."
"How!" interrupted Wallace; "have you scaled it alone, and are returnedin safety?"
Wallace caught him in his arms. "Intrepid, glorious boy! tell me forwhat purpose did you thus hazard your precious life?"
"I wished to learn its most pregnable part," replied Edwin, his youngheart beating with triumph at these encomiums from his commander; "andparticularly where the good earl is confined, that we might make ourattack directly to the point."
"And have you been successful?" demanded Wallace.
"I have," was his answer. "Lord Mar and his lady are kept in a squaretower which stands in the cleft between the two summits of the rock.It is not only surrounded by embattled walls, which flank the ponderousbuttresses of this huge dungeon, but the space on which it stands isbulwarked at each end by a stone curtain of fifteen feet high, guardedby turrets full of armed men.
"And yet by that side you suppose we must ascend?" said Wallace.
"Certainly; for if you attempt it on the west, we should have to scalethe watch-tower cliff, and the ascent could only be gained in file. Anauxiliary detachment, to attack in flank, might succeed there; but thepassage being so narrow, would be too tedious for the whole party toarrive in time. Should we take the south, we must cut through the wholegarrison before we could reach the earl. And on this side, the morasslies too near the foot of the rock to admit an approach without thegreatest danger. But on the north, where I descended, by wadingthrough part of the Leven, and climbing from cliff to cliff, I haveevery hope you may succeed."
Edwin recounted the particulars of his progress through the fortress;and by the minuteness of his topographical descriptions, enforced hisarguments for the north to be the point assailed. Closing hisnarrative, he explained to the anxious inquiry of Wallace how he hadescaped accident in a leap of so many feet. The wall was covered withivy; he caught by its branches in his descent, and at last happily fellamongst a thick bed of furze. After this, he clambered down the steep,and fording the Leven (there only knee deep), now appeared before hisgeneral, elate in heart, and bright in valor.
"The intrepidity of this action," returned Wallace, glowing withadmiration at so noble a daring in so young a creature, "merits thatevery confidence should be placed in the result of your observations.Your safe return is a pledge of our design being approved. And when wego in the strength of Heaven, who can doubt the issue? This night,when the Lord of battles puts that fortress into our hands, before thewhole of our little army you shall receive that knighthood you have sorichly deserved. Such, my truly dear brother, my noble Edwin, shall bethe reward of your virtue and your toil."
Wallace would now have sent him to respose himself; but animated by thesuccess of his adventure, and exulting in the honor which was so soonto stamp a sign of this exploit upon him forever, he told his leaderthat he felt no want of sleep, and would rather take on him the officeof arousing the other captains to their stations, the moon, theirpreconcerted signal, being then approaching its rest.