It must be observed, in excuse of his correspondents, that the post
was then much more tardy than since Mr. Palmer's ingenious
invention has taken place; and with respect to honest Dinmont in
particular, as he rarely received above one letter a quarter
(unless during the time of his being engaged in a lawsuit, when he
regularly sent to the post-town), his correspondence usually
remained for a month or two sticking in the postmaster's window,
among pamphlets, gingerbread, rolls, or ballads, according to the
trade which the said postmaster exercised. Besides, there was then
a custom, not yet wholly obsolete, of causing a letter, from one
town to another, perhaps within the distance of thirty miles,
perform a circuit of two hundred miles before delivery; which had
the combined advantage of airing the epistle thoroughly, of adding
some pence to the revenue of the post-office, and of exercising the
patience of the correspondents. Owing to these circumstances,
Brown remained several days in Allonby without any answers
whatever, and his stock of money, though husbanded with the utmost
economy, began to wear very low, when he received, by the hands of
a young fisherman, the following letter--

"You have acted with the most cruel indiscretion, you have shown
how little I can trust to your declarations that my peace and
happiness are dear to you; and your rashness has nearly occasioned
the death of a young man of the highest worth and honour. Must I
say more?--must I add, that I have been myself ill in consequence
of your violence and its effects? And, alas! need I say still
further, that I have thought anxiously upon them as they are likely
to affect you, although you have given me such slight cause to do
so? The C. is gone from home for several days; Mr. H. is almost
quite recovered; and I have reason to think that the blame is laid
in a quarter different from that where it is deserved. Yet do not
think of venturing here. Our fate has been crossed by accidents of
a nature too violent and terrible to permit me to think of renewing
a correspondence which has so often threatened the most dreadful
catastrophe. Farewell, therefore, and believe that no one can wish
your happiness more sincerely than J. M."

This letter contained that species of advice, which is frequently
given for the precise purpose that it may lead to a directly
opposite conduct from that which it recommends. At least so thought
Brown, who immediately asked the young fisherman if he came from
Portanferry.

"Ay," said the lad; "I am auld Willie Johnstone's son, and I got
that letter frae my sister Peggy, that's laundry-maid at
Woodbourne."

"My good friend, when do you sail?"

"With the tide this evening."

"I'll return with you; but as I do not desire to go to Portanferry,
I wish you could put me on shore somewhere on the coast."

"We can easily do that," said the lad.

Although the price of provisions, etc., was then very moderate, the
discharging his lodgings, and the expense of his living, together
with that of a change of dress, which safety as well as a proper
regard to his external appearance rendered necessary, brought
Brown's purse to a very low ebb. He left directions at the
post-office that his letters should be forwarded to Kippletringan,
whither he resolved to proceed, and reclaim the treasure which he
had deposited in the hands of Mrs. Mac-Candlish. He also felt it
would be his duty to assume his proper character as soon as he
should receive the necessary evidence for supporting it, and, as an
officer in the king's service, give and receive every explanation
which might be necessary with young Hazlewood. If he is not very
wrong-headed indeed, he thought, he must allow the manner in which
I acted to have been the necessary consequence of his own
overbearing conduct.

And now we must suppose him once more embarked on the Solway
frith. The wind was adverse, attended by some rain, and they
struggled against it without much assistance from the tide. The
boat was heavily laden with goods (part of which were probably
contraband), and laboured deep in the sea. Brown, who had been bred
a sailor, and was indeed skilled in most athletic exercises, gave
his powerful and effectual assistance in rowing, or occasionally in
steering the boat, and his advice in the management, which became
the more delicate as the wind increased, and, being opposed to the
very rapid tides of that coast, made the voyage perilous. At
length, after spending the whole night upon the frith, they were at
morning within sight of a beautiful bay upon the Scottish coast.
The weather was now more mild. The snow, which had been for some
time waning, had given way entirely under the fresh gale of the
preceding night. The more distant hills, indeed, retained their
snowy mantle, but all the open country was cleared, unless where a
few white patches indicated that it had been drifted to an uncommon
depth. Even under its wintry appearance, the shore was highly
interesting. The line of sea-coast, with all its varied curves,
indentures, and embayments, swept away from the sight on either
hand, in that varied, intricate, yet graceful and easy line, which
the eye loves so well to pursue. And it was no less relieved and
varied in elevation than in outline by the different forms of the
shore; the beach in some places being edged by steep rocks, and in
others rising smoothly from the sands in easy and swelling slopes.
Buildings of different kinds caught and reflected the wintry
sunbeams of a December morning, and the woods, though now leafless,
gave relief and variety to the landscape. Brown felt that lively
and awakening interest which taste and sensibility always derive
from the beauties of nature, when opening suddenly to the eye,
after the dulness and gloom of a night voyage. Perhaps,--for who
can presume to analyse that inexplicable feeling which binds the
person born in a mountainous country to his native hills,--perhaps
some early associations, retaining their effect long after the
cause was forgotten, mingled in the feelings of pleasure with which
he regarded the scene before him.

"And what," said Brown to the boatman, "is the name of that fine
cape, that stretches into the sea with its sloping banks and
hillocks of wood, and forms the right side of the bay?"

"Warroch Point," answered the lad.

"And that old castle, my friend, with the modern house situated
just beneath it? It seems at this distance a very large building."

"That's the Auld Place, sir; and that's the New Place below it.
We'll land you there if you like."

"I should like it of all things. I must visit that ruin before I
continue my journey."

"Ay, it's a queer auld bit," said the fisherman and that highest
tower is a gude landmark as far as Ramsay in Man, and the Point of
Ayr--there was muckle fighting about the place lang syne."

Brown would have inquired into further particulars, but a fisherman
is seldom an antiquary. His boatman's local knowledge was summed
up in the information already given, "that it was a grand landmark,
and that there had been muckle fighting about the bit lang syne."

"I shall learn more of it," said Brown to himself, "when I get
ashore."

The boat continued its course close under the point upon which the
castle was situated, which frowned from the summit of its rocky
site upon the still agitated waves of the bay beneath. "I
believe," said the steersman, "ye'll get ashore here as dry as ony
gate. [*Any place] There's a place where their berlins and
galleys, as they ca'd them, used to lie in lang syne, but it's no
used now, because it's ill carrying gudes up the narrow stairs, or
ower the rocks. Whiles of a moon-light night I have landed
articles there, though."

While he thus spoke, they pulled round a point of rock, and found a
very small harbour, partly formed by nature, partly by the
indefatigable labour of the ancient inhabitants of the castle, who,
as the fisherman observed, had found it essential for the
protection of their boats and small craft, thou-h it could not
receive vessels of any burden. The two points of rock which formed
the access approached each other so nearly, that only one boat
could enter at a time-. On each side were still remaining two
immense iron rings, deeply morticed into the solid rock. Through
these, according to tradition, there was nightly drawn a huge
chain, secured by an immense padlock, for the protection of the
haven, and the armada which it contained. A ledge of rock had, by
the assistance of the chisel and pick-axe, been formed into a sort
of quay. The rock was of extremely hard consistence, and the task
so difficult, that, according to the fisherman, a labourer who
wrought at the work might in the evening have carried home in his
bonnet all the shivers which he had struck from the mass in the
course of the day. This little quay communicated with a rude
staircase, already repeatedly mentioned, which descended from the
old castle. There was also a communication between the beach and
the quay, by scrambling over the rocks.

"Ye had better land here," said the lad, "for the surfs running
high at the Shellicoat-stane, and there will no be a dry thread
amang us or we get the cargo out.--Na! na! (in answer to an offer
of money) ye have wrought for your passage, and wrought far better
than ony o' us. Gude day to ye. . I wuss ye weel."

So saying, he pushed off in order to land his cargo on the opposite
side of the bay; and Brown, with a small bundle in his hand,
containing the trifling stock of necessaries which he had been
obliged to purchase at Allonby, was left on the rocks beneath the
ruin.

And thus, unconscious as the most absolute stranger, and in
circumstances which, if not destitute, were for the present highly
embarrassing; without the countenance of a friend within the circle
of several hundred miles; accused of a heavy crime, and, what was
as bad as all the rest, being nearly penniless, did the harassed
wanderer for the first time, after the interval of so many years,
approach the remains of the castle, where his ancestors had
exercised all but regal dominion.



CHAPTER XLI.

  --Yes, ye moss-green walls, Ye towers defenceless, I
  revisit ye Shame-stricken! Where are all your trophies
  now? Your thronged courts, the revelry, the tumult, That
  spoke the grandeur of my house, the homage Of neighbouring
  Barons?
    Mysterious Mother.

Entering the castle of Ellangowan by a postern door-way, which
showed symptoms of having been once secured with the most jealous
care, Brown (whom, since he has set font upon the property of his
fathers, we shall hereafter call by his father's name of Bertram)
wandered from one ruined apartment to another, surprised at the
massive strength of some parts of the building, the rude and
impressive magnificence of others, and the great extent of the
whole. In two of these rooms, close beside each other, he saw
signs of recent habitation. In one small apartment were empty
bottles, half-gnawed bones, and dried fragments of bread. In the
vault which adjoined, and which was defended by a strong door, then
left open, he observed a considerable quantity of straw, and in
both were the relies of recent fires. How little was it possible
for Bertram to conceive, that such trivial circumstances were
closely connected with incidents affecting his prosperity, his
honour, perhaps his life!

After satisfying his curiosity by a hasty glance through the
interior of the castle, Bertram now advanced through the great
gateway which opened to the land, and paused to look upon the noble
landscape which it commanded. Having in vain endeavoured to guess
the position of Woodbourne, and having nearly ascertained that of
Kippletringan, he turned to take a parting look at the stately
ruins which he had just traversed. He admired the massive and
picturesque effect of the huge round towers, which, flanking the
gateway, gave a double portion of depth and majesty to the high yet
gloomy arch under which it opened. The, carved stone escutcheon of
the ancient family, bearing for their arms three wolves' heads, was
hung diagonally beneath the helmet and crest, the latter being a
wolf couchant pierced with an arrow. On either side stood as
supporters, in full human size, or larger, a salvage man proper, to
use the language of heraldry, wreathed and cinctured, and holding
in his hand an oak-tree eradicated, that is, torn up by the roots.

"And the powerful barons who owned this blazonry," thought Bertram,
pursuing the usual train of ideas which flows upon the mind at such
scenes,--"do their posterity continue to possess the lands which
they had laboured to fortify so strongly? or are they wanderers,
ignorant perhaps even of the fame or power of their forefathers,
while their hereditary possessions are held by a race of strangers?
Why is it?" he thought, continuing to follow out the succession of
ideas which the scene prompted, "why is it that some scenes awaken
thoughts, which belong as it were to dreams of early and shadowy
recollection, such as my old Brahmin Moonshie would have ascribed
to a state of previous existence? Is it the visions of our sleep
that float confusedly in our memory, and are recalled by the
appearance of such real objects as in any respect correspond to the
phantoms they presented to our imagination? How often do we find
ourselves in society which we have never before met, and yet feel
impressed with a mysterious and ill-defined consciousness, that
neither the scene, the speakers, nor the subject are entirely new;
nay, feel as if we could anticipate that part of the conversation
which has not yet taken place! It is even so with me while I gaze
upon that ruin; nor can I divest myself of the idea, that these
massive towers, and that dark gateway, retiring through its
deep-vaulted and ribbed arches, and dimly lighted by the courtyard
beyond, are not entirely strange to me. Can it be that they have
been familiar to me in infancy, and that I am to seek in their
vicinity those friends of whom my childhood has still a tender
though faint remembrance, and whom I early exchanged for such
severe taskmasters? Yet Brown, who I think would not have deceived
me, always told me I was brought off from the eastern coast, after
a skirmish in which my father was killed; and I do remember enough
of a horrid scene of violence to strengthen his account."

It happened that the spot upon which young Bertram chanced to
station himself for the better viewing the castle, was nearly the
same on which his father had died. It was marked by a large old
oak-tree, the only one on the esplanade, and which, having been
used for executions by the barons of Ellangowan, was called the
justice Tree. It chanced, and the coincidence was remarkable, that
Glossin was this morning engaged with a person, whom he was in the
habit of consulting in such matters, concerning some projected
repairs, and a large addition to the house of Ellangowan, and that,
having no great pleasure in remains so intimately connected with
the grandeur of the former inhabitants, he had resolved to use the
stones of the ruinous castle in his new edifice. Accordingly he
came up the bank, followed by the land-surveyor mentioned on a
former occasion, who was also in the habit of acting as a sort of
architect in case of necessity. In drawing the plans, etc.,
Glossin was in the custom of relying upon his own skill. Bertram's
back was towards them as they came up the ascent, and he was quite
shrouded by the branches of the large tree, so that Glossin was not
aware of the presence of the stranger till he was close upon him.

"Yes, sir, as I have often said before to you, the Old Place is a
perfect quarry of hewn stone, and it would be better for the estate
if it were all down, since it is only a den for smugglers. "At
this instant Bertram turned short round upon Glossin at the
distance of two yards only, and said--"Would you destroy this
fine old castle, sir?"

His face, person, and voice, were so exactly those of his father in
his best days, that Glossin, hearing his exclamation, and seeing
such a sudden apparition in the shape of his patron, and on nearly
the very spot where he had expired, almost thought the grave had
given up its dead! --He staggered back two or three paces, as if
he had received a sudden and deadly wound. He instantly recovered,
however, his presence of mind, stimulated by the thrilling
reflection that it was no inhabitant of the other world which stood
before him, but an injured man, whom the slightest want of
dexterity on his part might lead to acquaintance with his rights,
and the means of asserting them to his utter destruction. Yet his
ideas were so much confused by the shock he had received, that his
first question partook of the alarm.

"In the name of God how came you here?" said Glossin.

"How came I here?" repeated Bertram, surprised at the solemnity of
the address. "I landed a quarter of an hour since in the little
harbour beneath the castle, and was employing a moment's leisure in
viewing these fine ruins. I trust there is no intrusion?"

"Intrusion, sir?--no, sir," said Glossin, in some degree recovering
his breath, and then whispered a few words into his companion's
ear, who immediately left him, and descended towards the house.
"Intrusion, sir?--no, sir,--you or any gentleman are welcome to
satisfy your curiosity."

"I thank you, sir," said Bertram. "'They call this the Old Place,
I am informed?"

"Yes, sir; in distinction to the New Place, my house there below."

Glossin, it must be remarked, was, during the following dialogue,
an the one hand eager to learn what local recollections young
Bertram had retained of the scenes of his infancy, and, on the
other, compelled to be extremely cautious in his replies, lest he
should awaken or assist, by some name, phrase, or anecdote, the
slumbering train of association. He suffered, indeed, during the
whole scene, the agonies which he so richly, deserved; yet his
pride and interest, like the fortitude of a North American Indian,
manned him to sustain the tortures inflicted at once by the
contending stings of a guilty conscience, of hatred, of fear, and
of suspicion.

"I wish to ask the name, sir," said Bertram, "of the family to whom
this stately ruin belongs?"

It is my property, sir; my name is Glossin."

"Glossin--Glossin?" repeated Bertram, as if the answer were
somewhat different from what he expected : "I beg your pardon, Mr.
Glossin; I am apt to be very absent.--May I ask if the castle has
been long in your family?"

"It was built, I believe, long ago, by a family called
MacDingawaie," answered Glossin; suppressing for obvious reasons
the more familiar sound of Bertram, which might have awakened the
recollections which he was anxious to lull to rest, and slurring
with an evasive answer the question concerning the endurance of his
own possession.

"And how do you read the half-defaced motto, sir," said Bertram,
"which is upon that scroll above the entablature with the arms?"

"I--I--I really do not exactly know," replied Glossin.

"I should be apt to make it out, 'Our Right makes our Might.' "

"I believe it is something of that kind," said Glossin.

"May I ask, sir," said the stranger, "if it is your family motto?"

"N-n-no--no--not ours. That is, I believe, the motto of the former
people--mine is--mine is--in fact I have had some correspondence
with Mr. Cumming of the Lyon Office in Edinburgh about mine. He
writes me the Glossins anciently bore for a motto, 'He who takes
it, makes it.' "

"If there be any uncertainty, sir, and the case were mine," said
Bertram, "I would assume the old motto, which seems to me the
better of the two."

Glossin, whose tongue by this time clove to the roof of his mouth,
only answered by a nod.

"It is odd enough," said Bertram, fixing his eye upon the
arms and gateway, and partly addressing Glossin, partly as
it were thinking aloud--"it is odd the tricks which our
memory plays us. The remnants of an old prophecy, or song,
or rhyme, of some kind or other, return to my recollection
on hearing that motto--stay--it is a strange jingle of
sounds:

  The dark shall be light,
  And the wrong made right,
  When Bertram's right and Bertram's might
  Shall meet on--

I cannot remember the last line--on some particular height--
height is the rhyme, I am sure; but I cannot hit upon the preceding
word."

"Confound your memory," muttered Glossin, "you remember by far too
much of it!"

"There are other rhymes connected with these early recollections,"
continued the young man : "Pray, sir, is there any song current in
this part of the world respecting a daughter of the King of the
Isle of Man eloping with a Scottish knight?"

"I am the worst person in the world to consult upon legendary
antiquities," answered Glossin.

"I could sing such a ballad," said Bertram, "from one end to
another, when I was a boy. You must know I left Scotland, which is
my native country, very young, and those who brought me up
discouraged all my attempts to preserve recollection of my native
land, on account, I believe, of a boyish wish which I had to escape
from their charge."

"Very natural," said Glossin, but speaking as if his utmost efforts
were unable to unseal his lips beyond the width of a quarter of an
inch, so that his whole utterance was a kind of compressed
muttering, very different from the round, bold, bullying voice with
which he usually spoke. Indeed his appearance and demeanour during
all this conversation seemed to diminish even his strength and
stature; so that he appeared to wither into the shadow of himself,
now advancing one foot, now the other, now stooping and wriggling
his shoulders, now fumbling with the buttons of his waistcoat, now
clasping his hands together,--in short, he was the picture of a
mean-spirited shuffling rascal in the very agonies of detection. To
these appearances Bertram was totally inattentive,--being dragged
on as it were by the current of his own associations. Indeed,
although he addressed Glossin, he was not so much thinking of him,
as arguing upon the embarrassing state of his own feelings and
recollection. "Yes," he said, "I preserved my language among the
sailors, most of whom spoke English, and when I could get into a
corner by myself, I used to sing all that song over from beginning
to end--I have forgot it all now--but I remember the tune well,
though I cannot guess what should at present so strongly recall it
to my memory."

He took his flageolet from his pocket, and played a simple melody.
Apparently the tune awoke the corresponding associations of a
damsel, who, close beside a fine spring about half-way down the
descent, and which had once supplied the castle with water, was
engaged in bleaching linen. She immediately took up the song:

"Are these the Links of Forth, she said, Or are they the crooks of
Dee.  Or the hannie woods of Warroch Head That I so fain would
see?"

"By heaven," said Bertram, "it is the very ballad. I must learn
these words from the girl."

"Confusion!" thought Glossin; "if I cannot put a stop to this, all
will be out. Oh, the devil take all ballads, and ballad-makers,
and ballad-singers! and that d-d jade too, to set up her
pipe!--You will have time enough for this on some other occasion,"
he said aloud; "at present"--(for now he saw his emissary with two
or three men coming up the bank),--"at present we must have some
more serious conversation together."

"How do you mean, sir?" said Bertram, turning short upon him, and
not liking the tone which he made use of.

"Why, sir, as to that--I believe your name is Brown?" said Glossin.

"And what of that, sir?"

Glossin looked over his shoulder to see how near his party had
approached; they were coming fast on.

"Vanbeest Brown? if I mistake not."

"And what of that, sir?" said Bertram, with increasing astonishment
and displeasure.

"Why, in that case," said Glossin, observing his friends had now
got upon the level space close beside them--"in that case you are
my prisoner in the king's name!"--At the same time he stretched his
hand towards Bertram's collar, while two of the men who had come up
seized upon his arms; he shook himself, however, free of their
grasp by a violent effort, in which he pitched the most
pertinacious down the bank, and, drawing his cutlass, stood on the
defensive, while those who had felt his strength recoiled from his
presence, and gazed at a safe distance. "Observe," he called out
at the same time, "that I have no purpose to resist legal
authority; satisfy me that you have a magistrates warrant, and are
authorised to make this arrest, and I will obey it quietly; but let
no man who loves his life venture to approach me, till I am
satisfied for what crime, and by whose authority, I am
apprehended."

Glossin then caused one of the officers show a warrant for the
apprehension of Vanbeest Brown, accused of the crime of wilfully
and maliciously shooting at Charles Hazlewood, younger of
Hazlewood, with an intent to kill, and also of other crimes and
misdemeanours, and which appointed him, having been so apprehended,
to be brought before the next magistrate for examination. The
warrant being formal, and the fact such as he could not deny,
Bertram threw down his weapon, and submitted himself to the
officers, who, flying on him with eagerness corresponding to their
former pusillanimity, were about to load him with irons, alleging
the strength and activity which he had displayed, as a
justification of this severity. But Glossin was ashamed or afraid
to permit this unnecessary insult, and directed the prisoner to be
treated with all the decency, and even respect, that was consistent
with safety. Afraid, however, to introduce him into his own house,
where still further subjects of recollection might have been
suggested, and anxious at the same time to cover his own
proceedings by the sanction of another's authority, he ordered his
carriage (for he had lately set up a carriage) to be got ready, and
in the meantime directed refreshments to be given to the prisoner
and the officers, who were consigned to one of the rooms in the old
castle, until the means of conveyance for examination before a
magistrate should be provided.


CHAPTER XLII.

  --Bring in the evidence--Thou robed man of justice,
  take thy place, And thou, his yoke-fellow of equity, Bench
  by his side--you are of the commission, Sit you too.
    King Lear.

While the carriage was getting ready, Glossin had a letter to
compose, about which. he wasted no small time. It was to his
neighbour, as he was fond of calling him, Sir Robert Hazlewood of
Hazlewood, the head of an ancient and powerful interest in the
county, which had in the decadence of the Ellangowan family
gradually succeeded to much of their Authority and influence. The
present representative of the family was an elderly man, dotingly
fond of his own family, which was limited to an only son and
daughter, and stoically indifferent to the fate of all mankind
besides. For the rest, he was honourable in his general dealings,
because he was afraid to suffer the censure of the world, and just
from a better motive. He was presumptuously over-conceited on the
score of family pride and importance, a feeling considerably
enhanced by his late succession to the title of a Nova Scotia
Baronet; and he hated the memory of the Ellangowan family, though
now a memory only, because a certain baron of that house was
traditionally, reported to have caused the founder of the Hazlewood
family hold his stirrup until he mounted into his saddle. In his
general department he was pompous and important, affecting a
specious of florid elocution, which often became ridiculous from
his misarranging the triads and quaternions with which he loaded
his sentences.

To this personage Glossin was now to write in such a conciliatory
style as might be most acceptable to his vanity and family pride,
and the following was the form of his note.

"Mr. Gilbert Glossin" (he longed to add of Ellangowan, but prudence
prevailed, and he suppressed that territorial designation)--"Mr.
Gilbert Glossin has the honour to offer his most respectful
compliments to Sir Robert Hazlewood, and to inform him, that he has
this morning been fortunate enough to secure the person who wounded
Mr. C. Hazlewood. As Sir Robert Hazlewood may probably choose to
conduct the examination of this criminal himself, Mr. G. Glossin
will cause the mail to be carried to the inn at Kippletringan, or
to Hazlewood House, as Sir Robert Hazlewood may be pleased to
direct : And, with Sir Robert Hazlewood's permission, Mr. G.
Glossin will attend him at either of these places with the proofs
and declarations which he has been so fortunate as to collect
respecting this atrocious business."

Addressed,

"Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood, Bart. "Hazlewood House, &c.
&c.

"Elln. Gn,

Tuesday."

This note he despatched by a servant on horseback, and having given
the man some time to get ahead, and desired him to ride fast, he
ordered two officers of justice to get into the carriage with
Bertram; and he himself, mounting his horse, accompanied them at a
slow pace to the point where the roads to Kippletringan and
Hazlewood House separated, and there awaited the return of his
messenger, in order that his farther route might be determined by
the answer he should receive from the Baronet. In about half an
hour his servant returned with the following answer, handsomely
folded, and scaled with the Hazlewood arms, having the Nova Scotia
badge depending from the shield.

"Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood returns Mr. G. Glossin's
compliments, and thanks him for the trouble he has taken in a
matter affecting the safety of Sir Robert's family. Sir R. H.
requests Mr. G. G. will have the goodness to bring the prisoner
to Hazlewood House for examination, with the other proofs or
declarations which he mentions. And after the business is over, in
case Mr. G. G. is not otherwise engaged, Sir R. and Lady
Hazlewood request his company to dinner."

Addressed,

"Mr. Gilbert Glossin, &c.

Hazlewood House,

Tuesday."

"Soh!" thought Mr. Glossin, "here is one finger in at least, and
that I will make the means of introducing my whole hand. But I must
first get clear of this wretched young fellow.--I think I can
manage Sir Robert. He is dull and pompous, and will be alike
disposed to listen to my suggestions upon the law of the case, and
to assume the credit of acting upon them as his own proper motion.
So I shall have the advantage of being the real magistrate, without
the odium of responsibility."

As he cherished these hopes and expectations the carriage
approached Hazlewood House, through a noble avenue of old oaks,
which shrouded the ancient abbey-resembling building so called. It
was a large edifice built at different periods, part having
actually been a priory, upon the suppression of which, in the time
of Queen Mary, the first of the family had obtained a gift of the
house and the surrounding lands from the crown. It was pleasantly
situated in a large deer-park, on the banks of the river we have
before mentioned. The scenery around was of a dark, solemn, and
somewhat melancholy cast, according well with the architecture of
the house. Everything appeared to be kept in the highest possible
order, and announced the opulence and rank of the proprietor.

As Mr. Glossin's carriage stopped at the door of the hall, Sir
Robert reconnoitred the new vehicle from the windows. According to
his aristocratic feelings, there was a degree of presumption in
this novus homo, this Mr. Gilbert Glossin, late writer in--,
presuming to set up such an accommodation at all; but his wrath was
mitigated when he observed that the mantle upon the panels only
bore a plain cypher of G. G. This apparent modesty was indeed
solely owing to the delay of Mr. Cumming of the Lyon Office, who,
being at that time engaged in discovering and matriculating the
arms of two commissaries from North America, three English-Irish
peers, and two great Jamaica traders, had been more slow than usual
in finding an escutcheon for the new Laird of Ellangowan. But his
delay told to the advantage of Glossin in the opinion of the proud
Baronet.

While the officers of justice detained their prisoner in a sort of
steward's room, Mr. Glossin was ushered into what was called the
great oak-parlour, a long room, panelled with well-varnished
wainscot, and adorned with the grim portraits of Sir Robert
Hazlewood's ancestry. The visitor, who had no internal
consciousness of worth to balance that of meanness of birth, felt
his inferiority, and by the depth of his bow and the obsequiousness
of his demeanour, showed that the Laird of Ellangowan was sunk for
the time in the old and submissive habits of the quondam retainer
of the law. He would have persuaded himself, indeed, that he was
only humouring the pride of the old Baronet, for the purpose of
turning it to his own advantage; but his feelings were of a mingled
nature, and he felt the influence of those very prejudices which he
pretended to flatter.

The Baronet received his visitor with that condescending parade
which was meant at once to assert his own vast superiority, and to
show the generosity and courtesy with which he could waive it, and
descend to the level of ordinary conversation with ordinary men. He
thanked Glossin for his attention to a matter in which "young
Hazlewood" was so intimately concerned, and, pointing to his family
pictures, observed, with a gracious smile, "Indeed these venerable
gentlemen, Mr. Glossin, are as much obliged as I am in this case,
for the labour, pains, care, and trouble which you have taken in
their behalf; and I have no doubt, were they capable of expressing
themselves, would join me, sir, in thanking you for the favour you
have conferred upon the house of Hazlewood, by taking care, and
trouble, sir, and interest, in behalf of the young, gentleman who
is to continue their name and family."

Thrice bowed Glossin, and each time more profoundly than before;
once in honour of the knight who stood upright before him, once in
respect to the quiet personages who patiently hung upon the
wainscot, and a third time in deference to the young gentleman who
was to carry on the name and family. Roturier as he was, Sir
Robert was gratified by the homage which he rendered, and proceeded
in a tone of gracious familiarity: "And now, Mr Glossin, my
exceeding good friend, you must allow me to avail myself of your
knowledge of law in our proceedings in this matter. I am not much
in the habit of acting as a justice of the peace; it suits better
with other gentlemen, whose domestic and family affairs require
less constant superintendence, attention, and management than
mine."

Of course, whatever small assistance Mr. Glossin could render was
entirely at Sir Robert Hazlewood's service; but, as Sir Robert
Hazlewood's name stood high in the list of the faculty, the said
Mr. Glossin could not presume to hope it could be either necessary
or useful.

"Why, my good sir, you will understand me only to mean, that I am
something deficient in the practical knowledge of the ordinary
details of justice-business. I was indeed educated to the bar, and
might boast perhaps at one time, that I had made some progress in
the speculative, and abstract, and abstruse doctrines of our
municipal code; but there is in the present day so little
opportunity of a man of family and fortune rising to that eminence
at the bar, which is attained by adventurers who are as willing to
plead for John a Nokes as for the first noble of the land, that I
was really early disgusted with practice. The first case, indeed,
which was laid on my table, quite sickened me; it respected a
bargain, sir, of tallow, between a butcher and. a candle-maker; and
I found it was expected that I should grease my mouth, not only
with their vulgar names, but with all the technical terms and
phrases, and peculiar language, of their dirty arts. Upon my
honour, my good sir, I have never been able to bear the smell of a
tallow-candle since."

Pitying, as seemed to be expected, the mean use to which the
Baronet's faculties had been degraded on the melancholy occasion,
Mr, Glossin offered to officiate as clerk or assessor, or in any
way in which he could be most useful. "And with a view to
possessing you of the whole business, and in the first place, there
will, I believe, be no difficulty in proving the main fact, that
this was the person who fired the unhappy piece. Should he deny
it, it can be proved by Mr. Hazlewood, I presume."

"Young Hazlewood is not at home to-day, Mr. Glossin."

"But we can have the oath of the servant who attended him," said
the ready Mr. Glossin; "indeed I hardly think the fact will be
disputed. I am more apprehensive, that, from the too favourable
and indulgent manner in which I have understood that Mr. Hazlewood
has been pleased to represent the business, the assault may be
considered as accidental, and the injury as unintentional, so that
the fellow may be immediately set at liberty, to do more mischief."

"I have not the honour to know the gentleman who now holds the
office of king's advocate," replied Sir Robert gravely; "but I
presume, sir--nay, I am confident, that he will consider the mere
fact of having wounded young Hazlewood of Hazlewood, even by
inadvertency, to take the matter in its mildest and gentlest, and
in its most favourable and improbable light, as a crime which will
be too easily atoned by imprisonment, and as more deserving of
deportation."

"Indeed, Sir Robert," said his assenting brother in justice, "I am
entirely of your opinion; but, I don't know how it is, I have
observed the Edinburgh gentlemen of the bar, and even the officers
of the crown, pique themselves upon an indifferent administration
of justice, without respect to rank and family; and I should
fear--"

"How, sir, without respect to rank and family? Will you tell me
that doctrine can be held by men of birth and legal education? No,
sir; if a trifle stolen in the street is termed mere pickery, but
is elevated into sacrilege if the crime be committed in a church,
so, according to the just gradations of society, the guilt of an
injury is enhanced by the rank of the person to whom it is offered,
done, or perpetrated, sir."

Glossin bowed low to this declaration ex cathedra, but observed,
that in case of the very worst, and of such unnatural doctrines
being actually held as he had already hinted, "the law had another
hold on Mr. Vanbeest Brown."

"Vanbeest Brown! is that the fellow's name? Good God! that young
Hazlewood of Hazlewood should have had his life endangered, the
clavicle of his right shoulder considerably lacerated and
dislodged, several large drops or slugs deposited in the acromion
process, as the account of the family surgeon expressly bears, and
all by an obscure wretch named Vanbeest Brown!"

"Why, really, Sir Robert, it is a thing which one can hardly bear
to think of; but, begging ten thousand pardons for resuming what I
was about to say, a person of the same name is, as appears from
these papers (producing Dirk Hatteraick's pocket-book), mate to the
smuggling vessel who offered such violence at Woodbourne, and I
have no doubt that this is the same individual; which, however,
your acute discrimination will easily be able to ascertain."

"The same, my good sir, he must assuredly be--it would be injustice
even to the meanest of the people, to suppose there could be found
among them two persons doomed to bear a name so shocking to one's
ears as this of Vanbeest Brown."

"True, Sir Robert; most unquestionably; there cannot be a shadow of
doubt of it. But you see further, that this circumstance accounts
for the man's desperate conduct. You, Sir Robert, will discover
the motive for his crime--you, I say, will discover it without
difficulty, on your giving your mind to the examination; for my
part, I cannot help suspecting the moving spring to have been
revenge for the gallantry with which Mr. Hazlewood, with all the
spirit of his renowned forefathers, defended the house at
Woodbourne against this villain and his lawless companions."

"I will inquire into it, my good sir," said the learned Baronet.
"Yet even now I venture to conjecture that I shall adopt the
solution or explanation of this riddle, enigma, or mystery, which
you have in some degree thus started. Yes! revenge it must
be--and, good Heaven! entertained by and against
whom?--entertained, fostered, cherished, against young Hazlewood of
Hazlewood, and in part carried into effect, executed, and
implemented, by the hand of Vanbeest Brown! These are dreadful days
indeed, my worthy neighbour (this epithet indicated a rapid advance
in the Baronet's good graces)--days when the bulwarks of society
are shaken to their mighty base, and that rank, which forms, as it
were, its highest grace and ornament, is mingled and confused with
the viler parts of the architecture. Oh, my good Mr. Gilbert
Glossin, in my time, sir, the use of swords and pistols, and such
honourable arms, were reserved by the nobility and gentry to
themselves, and the disputes of the vulgar were decided by the
weapons which nature had given them, or by cudgels cut, broken, or
hemmed out of the next wood. But now, sir, the clouted [*Patched ]
shoe of the peasant galls the kibe of the courtier. The lower
ranks have their quarrels, sir, and their points of honour, and
their revenges, which they must bring, forsooth, to fatal
arbitrament. But well, well! it will last my time--let us have in
this fellow, this Vanbeest Brown, and make an end of him at least
for the present."



CHAPTER XLIII.

  --'Twas he ye Gave heat unto the injury, which returned,
  Like a petard ill lighted, into the bosom Of him gave fire
  to't. Yet I hope his hurt Is not so dangerous but he may
  recover.               Fair Maid of the Inn.

The prisoner was now presented before the two worshipful
magistrates. Glossin, partly from some compunctious visitings, and
partly out of his cautious resolution to suffer Sir Robert
Hazlewood to be the ostensible manager of the whole examination,
looked down upon the table, and busied himself with reading and,
arranging the papers respecting the business, only now and then
throwing in a skilful catchword as prompter, when he saw the
principal, and apparently most active magistrate, stand in need of
a hint. As for Sir Robert Hazlewood, he assumed on his part a
happy mixture of the austerity of the justice, combined with the
display of personal dignity appertaining to the baronet of ancient
family.

"There, constables, let him stand there at the bottom of the
table.--Be so good as look me in the face, sir, and raise your
voice as you answer the questions which I am going to put to you."

"May I beg, in the first place, to know, sir, who it is that takes
the trouble to interrogate me?" said the prisoner; "for the honest
gentlemen who have brought me here have not been pleased to furnish
any information upon that point."

"And pray, sir," answered Sir Robert, "what has my name and quality
to do with the questions I am about to ask you?"

"Nothing, perhaps, sir," replied Bertram but it may considerably
influence my disposition to answer them."

"Why, then, sir, you will please to be informed that you are in
presence of Sir Robert Hazlewood of Hazlewood, and another justice
of peace for this county--that's all."

As this intimation produced a less stunning effect upon the
prisoner than he had anticipated, Sir Robert proceeded in his
investigation with an increasing dislike to the object of it.

"Is your name Vanbeest Brown, sir?"

"It is," answered the prisoner.

"So far well;--and how are we to design you further, sir?"
demanded the justice.

"Captain in his Majesty's regiment of horse," answered Bertram.

The Baronet's ears received this intimation with astonishment; but
he was refreshed in courage by an incredulous look from Glossin,
and by hearing him gently utter a sort of interjectional whistle,
in a note of surprise and contempt. "I believe, my friend," said
Sir Robert, "we shall find for you, before we part, a more humble
title."

"If you do, sir," replied his prisoner, "I shall willingly submit
to any punishment which such an imposture shall be thought to
deserve."

"Well, sir, we shall see," continued Sir Robert. "Do you know
young Hazlewood of Hazlewood?"

"I never saw the gentleman who I am informed bears that name
excepting once, and I regret that it was under very unpleasant
circumstances."

"You mean to acknowledge, then," said the Baronet, "that you
inflicted upon young Hazlewood of Hazlewood that wound which
endangered his life, considerably lacerated the clavicle of his
right shoulder, and deposited, as the family surgeon declares,
several large drops. or slugs in the acromion process?"

"Why, sir," replied Bertram, "I can only say I am equally ignorant
of and sorry for the extent of the damage which the young gentleman
has sustained. I met him in a narrow path, walking with two ladies
and a servant, and before I could either pass them or address them,
this young Hazlewood took his gun from his servant, presented it
against my body, and commanded me in the most haughty tone to stand
back. I was neither inclined to submit to his authority, nor to
leave him in possession of the means to injure me, which he seemed
disposed to use with such rashness. I therefore closed with him
for the purpose of disarming him; and just as I had nearly effected
my purpose, the piece went off accidentally, and, to my regret then
and since, inflicted upon the young gentleman a severer
chastisement than I desired, though I am glad to understand it is
like to prove no more than his unprovoked folly deserved."

"And so, sir," said the Baronet, every feature swollen with
offended dignity,--"You, sir, admit, sir, that it was your purpose,
sir, and your intention, sir, and the real jet and object of your
assault, sir, to disarm young Hazlewood of Hazlewood of his gun,
sir, or his fowling-piece, or his fuzee, or whatever you please to
call it, sir, upon the king's highway, sir?--I think this will do,
my worthy neighbour! I think he should stand committed?"

"You are by far the best judge, Sir Robert," said Glossin, in his
most insinuating tone; "but if I might presume to hint, there was
something about these smugglers."

"Very true, good sir.--And besides, sir, you, Vanbeest Brown, who
call yourself a captain in his Majesty's service, are no better or
worse than a rascally mate of a smuggler!"

"Really, sir," said Bertram, "you are an old gentleman, and acting
under some strange delusion, otherwise I should be very angry with
you."

"Old gentleman, sir! strange delusion, sir!" said Sir Robert,
colouring with indignation. "I protest and declare--Why, sir,
have you any papers or letters that can establish your pretended
rank, and estate, and commission?"

"None at present, sir," answered Bertram; "but in the return of a
post or two--"

"And how do you, sir," continued the Baronet, "if you are a captain
in his Majesty's service, how do you chance to be travelling in
Scotland without letters of introduction, credentials, baggage, or
anything belonging to your pretended rank, estate, and condition,
as I said before?"

"Sir," replied the prisoner, "I had the misfortune to be robbed of
my clothes and baggage."

"Oho! then you are the gentleman who took a post-chaise from--to
Kippletringan, gave the boy the slip on the road, and sent two of
your accomplices to beat the boy and bring away the baggage?"

"I was, sir, in a carriage as you describe, was obliged to alight
in the snow, and lost my way endeavouring to find the road to
Kippletringan. The landlady of the inn will inform you that on my
arrival there the next day, my first inquiries were after the boy."

"Then give me leave to ask where you spent the night--not in the
snow, I presume? you do not suppose that will pass, or be taken,
credited, and received?"

"I beg leave," said Bertram, his recollection turning to the gipsy
female, and to the promise he had given her, "I beg leave to
decline answering that question."

"I thought as much," said Sir Robert.--"Were you not during that
night in the ruins of Derncleugh?--in the ruins of Derncleugh,
sir?"

"I have told you that I do not intend answering that question,"
replied Bertram.

"Well, sir, then you will stand committed, sir." said Sir Robert,
"and be sent to prison, sir, that's all, sir.--Have the goodness
to look at these papers; are you the Vanbeest Brown who is there
mentioned?"

It must be remarked that Glossin had shuffled among the papers some
writings which really did belong to Bertram, and which had been
found by the officers in the old vault where his portmanteau was
ransacked.

"Some of these papers," said Bertram, looking over them, "are mine,
and were in my portfolio when it was stolen from the post-chaise.
They are memoranda of little value, and, I see, have been carefully
selected as affording no evidence of my rank or character, which
many of the other papers would have established fully. They are
mingled with ship-accounts and other papers, belonging apparently
to a person of the same name."

"And wilt thou attempt to persuade me, friend," demanded Sir
Robert, "that there are two persons in this country, at the same
time, of thy very uncommon and awkwardly sounding name?"

"I really do not see, sir, as there is an old Hazlewood and a young
Hazlewood, why there should not be an old and a young Vanbeest
Brown. And, to speak seriously, I was educated in Holland, and I
know that this name, however uncouth it may sound in British
ears--"

Glossin, conscious that the prisoner was now about to enter upon
dangerous ground, interfered, though the interruption was
unnecessary, for the purpose of diverting the attention of Sir
Robert Hazlewood, who was speechless and motionless with
indignation at the presumptuous comparison implied in Bertram's
last speech. In fact, the veins of his throat and of his temples
swelled almost to bursting, and he sat with the indignant and
disconcerted air of one who has received a mortal insult from a
quarter to which he holds it unmeet and indecorous to make any
reply. While with a bent brow and an angry eye he was drawing in
his breath slowly and majestically, and puffing it forth again with
deep and solemn exertion, Glossin stepped in to his assistance. "I
should think now, Sir Robert, with great submission, that this
matter may be closed. One of the constables, besides the pregnant
proof already produced, offers to make oath, that the sword of
which the prisoner was this morning deprived (while using it, by
the way, in resistance to a legal warrant) was a cutlass taken from
him in a fray between the officers and smugglers, just previous to
their attack upon Woodbourne. And yet," he added, "I would not
have you form any rash construction upon that subject; perhaps the
young man can explain how he came by that weapon."