plain terms his entire disbeliefin these gentle spirits, challenging them to meet him that night on hisway home, and let him play on the bagpipes heard by so many of hiscompanions in the gloamin' among the heather on the hill-side; at thesame time drinking glass after glass to his success in the exploit.
Soon after this the party broke up, and Alaister started forInverknickle, playing what he intended for "Wooed and married and a',"but it was a bad version of it, and sounded dismal and unearthly as itdied away in the distance.
He crossed the moor in the bright moonlight, and at last reached thebirch wood, where the white stems shone like ghosts in theirwinding-sheets, and the branches swung noiselessly in the night breeze,and gave out their fresh sweet smell. Let it not be supposed thatAlaister actually observed all this, but it had an influence on hismind, and made him feel eerie, it was so different from the noisy scenehe had left.
Just then he heard "Wooed and married and a'" played as well as he couldplay it (this he only confessed silently to himself, he would on noaccount have let any one else say so), but on a bagpipe of the softestand moat silvery tone, and soon a band of bright little creatures camefrom among the green grass and bracken, and stopped directly in hispath. All wore the full Highland dress, but the checks in the tartanlooked as if made of precious stones, for they sparkled and glittered inthe moonlight, till Alaister was almost dazzled by their brilliancy; thered cherry tufts on their bonnets shone with a clear calm light, likeglowworms, but as he had never seen one of these, he mentally said "likeanything." The party was headed by a piper, playing on pipes, the bagof which was a bluebell, the chaunter a hedgehog's bristle, and theribbons made of dragonflies' wings. He was followed by the king andqueen, who wore beautiful crowns, from which shot rays of variegatedlight; then came the train of followers, and round the whole ran threeWill-of-the-Wisps. These were taller than the rest; from their hands,feet, and eyes came bright flashes like lightning, but their bodies werequite black and very slight.
When they halted in front of Alaister, the piper stopped playing, andeven the Will-of-the-Wisps did not run quite so fast; the king and queenstepped forward, and asked who it was who dared to disturb theirmidnight march through their own domain, but such a hubbub arose amongsttheir followers that, without waiting for his answer, they turned toinquire into the cause.
This was very soon explained: it was an outburst of rage against thepiper Alaister, with eager offers to bring forward proof of misconductagainst him. These were immediately accepted, and an old fairy-elf wascommanded to speak first.
There was now a dead silence, except when the night wind rustled amongstthe birch branches, and bent the waving bracken, or some night birduttered a wild cry. The old elf stepped forward, and then, by suddenlytwisting his legs and arms together, and sinking his head between them,he changed into the cup, with the picture of the real king in thebottom, which stood on the chimney-piece of the room where the weddingfeast had been held, and from this cup came a voice which repeated allthe scornful words of Alaister against the fairies. When he ceased heresumed his former shape and retired; others were then called forward inhis place, and took the form of cups, bowls, toddy ladles, and glosses,each repeating the same tale; but last of all appeared a lovely girl,who changed into the little square looking-glass in a red frame, inwhich Alaister had from time to time arranged his hair during thatevening; and there was his face reflected in it, and it was his ownvoice which he now heard, and he saw his lips moving so distinctly, thathe put up his hand to feel if he were really speaking, but his lips werestill, and the loud ringing laugh of the glittering band made him feelso angry, that he tried to move away, but he then found that he wasspell-bound, and must remain to be laughed at or ill-treated by hislittle enemies. Now Alaister was a very sensible man, so when he foundthat he must stay, he tried to look as if he liked to stay, and when heheard the king command that he should have his wish, and might play ontheir bagpipes that night, he smiled blandly, and took the littleinstrument, which looked like a large spider as it lay in the palm ofhis hand. In an instant it changed, and became as large as his own,which was carried off by one of the Will-of-the-Wisps, to whom he triedto say something civil, but before he could make up his mind what it wasto be, the sprite was glancing amongst the trees far away.
Thinking it might be the wisest plan to conciliate the gude fouk, heplayed his best tunes, and never had they sounded so well, for the tonesof the fairy pipe were far softer and sweeter than his own, and thefairies danced so lightly and nimbly, that he forgot it was against hiswill he had been ordered to play, and was sorry when the king waved hiscrystal sceptre, and, pointing to the moon, now fast sinking towards thedistant hills, commanded his followers to return home. And now, ofcourse, Alaister thought that he was to return home also, but no, he wascommanded to follow, and in spite of himself he was obliged to runthrough the thick wood, down steep banks, and over rocks to theriver-side, where a fleet of egg-shells came towards them at thefairies' call, and each jumping into one, they shoved off, laughing tosee how Alaister plunged into the cold water, and how theWill-of-the-Wisps jostled against him in the deepest parts of thestream.
Wet and weary, he at length reached the cave, which seemed to be thehome of the party, and where he found many already busily employed inmaking preparations for a meal.
The cave was hung with the trailing moss, called tod's-tail, whilepieces of rock crystal, cairngorm, and amethyst reflected the lightgiven out by the Will-of-the-Wisps, who suspended themselves likechandeliers from the stalactites which hung from the roof. The floorwas thickly strewn with stag-horn moss, which formed a soft and elasticcarpet. In the middle of the cave was a large mushroom, round which thefairies were now busy spreading the cloth, woven of the finest gossamer,and arranging the acorn-cups and dishes of delicate meats, which hadbeen prepared during their absence by those who remained at home.
When all was ready, numbers of green beetles ran forward to the tableand ranged themselves round it; on these the fairies sat as theyfeasted.
Never was there a merrier party; they laughed and talked, and pledgedeach other in bumpers of mountain dew, and sang sweetly while bunches ofwhite hare-bells, which hung from the roof, chimed in as accompaniment.
All this time Alaister had stood looking on, wondering what was tohappen to him, and not feeling quite at his ease, for he knew it was amark of displeasure when the gude fouk ate without offering anything tothe mortal who was present, and besides, the younger fairies every nowand then made faces at him. At length the feast was ended, and the kingcalled together the oldest of his followers, and retired to somedistance from the rest, where, for a time, they held eager consultation.The king then advanced to Alaister and told him that as he had playedso well for them that night, they had determined not to change him intoa Will-of-the-Wisp, as was the fate of all who spoke ill of them, andwho afterwards fell into their power, but they would send him out intothe world again, under a ban which would follow him to the end of hislife, but which they would leave him to discover. While his sentencewas being pronounced, the Will-of-the-Wisps were much agitated, dartingabout the roof, and giving out streams of pale cold light; the whitehare-bells rang mournfully, shaken by a creeping blast which circledround and round; cold drops fell from the roof and trickled feebly downthe sides of the cave, while the voices of the elves' and fairiessounded harsh and shrill.
A Will-of-the-Wisp was then commanded to be his guide to the birch wood,and Alaister was again led through the river, up the rocks, and throughthe woods he had passed on his way to the cave.
Arrived at the wood, his guide vanished, and he found himself alone on abright sunny morning, the dew-drops glistening on the grass, amongstwhich he joyfully discovered his pipes; but at the same time he saw thathis clothes hung about him in tatters, and oh! how wet and tired he waswith his night's work! He could not, however, show himself atInverknickle in so disordered a state, so was obliged to remain in thewood till the evening, when he thought it safer to go home, in ca
se histormentors should again carry him off. When he reached his cottage, hetold his wife that he had lost his way in the dark, and had torn hisclothes on the brambles and bushes, amongst which he had got entangled;but not a word did he say about the fairies, lest he should offend them,and be carried off, and turned into a black Will-of-the-Wisp, and haveto dance about every night in the cold moonlight, which was not at allAlaister's idea of real comfort.
Now Mrs Mackinnon had what is called "an ill tongue," and she did notspare poor Alaister as she turned over his torn garments; but he waswell accustomed to her attacks, and had learnt that silence was his onlysafety, so he took one child on his knee as he sat by the fire, androcked the cradle with his foot, in hopes of softening his wife'stemper. As the evening advanced, she became pretty tired of having allthe talk to herself, so sat down opposite him, and with a cross face,and in a sharp voice, asked what