CHAPTER XL
Can no rest find me, no private place secure me, But still my miseries like bloodhounds haunt me? Unfortunate young man, which way now guides thee, Guides thee from death? The country's laid around for thee.
Women Pleased.
Our narrative now recalls us for a moment to the period when youngHazlewood received his wound. That accident had no sooner happened thanthe consequences to Miss Mannering and to himself rushed upon Brown'smind. From the manner in which the muzzle of the piece was pointed whenit went off, he had no great fear that the consequences would be fatal.But an arrest in a strange country, and while he was unprovided withany means of establishing his rank and character, was at least to beavoided. He therefore resolved to escape for the present to theneighbouring coast of England, and to remain concealed there, ifpossible, until he should receive letters from his regimental friends,and remittances from his agent; and then to resume his own character,and offer to young Hazlewood and his friends any explanation orsatisfaction they might desire. With this purpose he walked stoutlyforward, after leaving the spot where the accident had happened, andreached without adventure the village which we have called Portanferry(but which the reader will in vain seek for under that name in thecounty map). A large open boat was just about to leave the quay, boundfor the little seaport of Allonby, in Cumberland. In this vessel Brownembarked, and resolved to make that place his temporary abode, until heshould receive letters and money from England.
In the course of their short voyage he entered into some conversationwith the steersman, who was also owner of the boat, a jolly old man,who had occasionally been engaged in the smuggling trade, like mostfishers on the coast. After talking about objects of less interest,Brown endeavoured to turn the discourse toward the Mannering family.The sailor had heard of the attack upon the house at Woodbourne, butdisapproved of the smugglers' proceedings.
'Hands off is fair play; zounds, they'll bring the whole country downupon them. Na, na! when I was in that way I played at giff-gaff withthe officers: here a cargo taen--vera weel, that was their luck; thereanother carried clean through, that was mine; na, na! hawks shouldnapike out hawks' een.'
'And this Colonel Mannering?' said Brown.
'Troth, he's nae wise man neither, to interfere; no that I blame himfor saving the gangers' lives, that was very right; but it wasna like agentleman to be righting about the poor folk's pocks o' tea and brandykegs. However, he's a grand man and an officer man, and they do whatthey like wi' the like o' us.'
'And his daughter,' said Brown, with a throbbing heart, 'is going to bemarried into a great family too, as I have heard?'
'What, into the Hazlewoods'?' said the pilot. 'Na, na, that's but idleclashes; every Sabbath day, as regularly as it came round, did theyoung man ride hame wi' the daughter of the late Ellangowan; and mydaughter Peggy's in the service up at Woodbourne, and she says she'ssure young Hazlewood thinks nae mair of Miss Mannering than you do.'
Bitterly censuring his own precipitate adoption of a contrary belief,Brown yet heard with delight that the suspicions of Julia's fidelity,upon which he had so rashly acted, were probably void of foundation.How must he in the meantime be suffering in her opinion? or what couldshe suppose of conduct which must have made him appear to herregardless alike of her peace of mind and of the interests of theiraffection? The old man's connexion with the family at Woodbourne seemedto offer a safe mode of communication, of which he determined to availhimself.
'Your daughter is a maid-servant at Woodbourne? I knew Miss Manneringin India, and, though I am at present in an inferior rank of life, Ihave great reason to hope she would interest herself in my favour. Ihad a quarrel unfortunately with her father, who was my commandingofficer, and I am sure the young lady would endeavour to reconcile himto me. Perhaps your daughter could deliver a letter to her upon thesubject, without making mischief between her father and her?'
The old man, a friend to smuggling of every kind, readily answered forthe letter's being faithfully and secretly delivered; and, accordingly,as soon as they arrived at Allonby Brown wrote to Miss Mannering,stating the utmost contrition for what had happened through hisrashness, and conjuring her to let him have an opportunity of pleadinghis own cause, and obtaining forgiveness for his indiscretion. He didnot judge it safe to go into any detail concerning the circumstances bywhich he had been misled, and upon the whole endeavcured to expresshimself with such ambiguity that, if the letter should fall into wronghands, it would be difficult either to understand its real purport orto trace the writer. This letter the old man undertook faithfully todeliver to his daughter at Woodbourne; and, as his trade would speedilyagain bring him or his boat to Allonby, he promised farther to takecharge of any answer with which the young lady might entrust him.
And now our persecuted traveller landed at Allonby, and sought for suchaccommodations as might at once suit his temporary poverty and hisdesire of remaining as much unobserved as possible. With this view heassumed the name and profession of his friend Dudley, having commandenough of the pencil to verify his pretended character to his host ofAllonby. His baggage he pretended to expect from Wigton; and keepinghimself as much within doors as possible, awaited the return of theletters which he had sent to his agent, to Delaserre, and to hislieutenant-colonel. From the first he requested a supply of money; heconjured Delaserre, if possible, to join him in Scotland; and from thelieutenant-colonel he required such testimony of his rank and conductin the regiment as should place his character as a gentleman andofficer beyond the power of question. The inconvenience of being runshort in his finances struck him so strongly that he wrote to Dinmonton that subject, requesting a small temporary loan, having no doubtthat, being within sixty or seventy miles of his residence, he shouldreceive a speedy as well as favourable answer to his request ofpecuniary accommodation, which was owing, as he stated, to his havingbeen robbed after their parting. And then, with impatience enough,though without any serious apprehension, he waited the answers of thesevarious letters.
It must be observed, in excuse of his correspondents, that the post wasthen much more tardy than since Mr. Palmer's ingenious invention hastaken place; and with respect to honest Dinmont in particular, as herarely received above one letter a quarter (unless during the time ofhis being engaged in a law-suit, when he regularly sent to thepost-town), his correspondence usually remained for a month or twosticking in the postmaster's window among pamphlets, gingerbread,rolls, or ballads, according to the trade which the said postmasterexercised. Besides, there was then a custom, not yet wholly obsolete,of causing a letter from one town to another, perhaps within thedistance of thirty miles, perform a circuit of two hundred miles beforedelivery; which had the combined advantage of airing the epistlethoroughly, of adding some pence to the revenue of the post-office, andof exercising the patience of the correspondents. Owing to thesecircumstances Brown remained several days in Allonby without anyanswers whatever, and his stock of money, though husbanded with theutmost economy, began to wear very low, when he received by the handsof a young fisherman the following letter:--
'You have acted with the most cruel indiscretion; you have shown howlittle I can trust to your declarations that my peace and happiness aredear to you; and your rashness has nearly occasioned the death of ayoung man of the highest worth and honour. Must I say more? must I addthat I have been myself very ill in consequence of your violence andits effects? And, alas! need I say still farther, that I have thoughtanxiously upon them as they are likely to affect you, although you havegiven me such slight cause to do so? The C. is gone from home forseveral days, Mr. H. is almost quite recovered, and I have reason tothink that the blame is laid in a quarter different from that where itis deserved. Yet do not think of venturing here. Our fate has beencrossed by accidents of a nature too violent and terrible to permit meto think of renewing a correspondence which has so often threatened themost dreadful catastrophe. Farewell, therefore, and believe that no onecan wish your happiness more s
incerely than
'J. M.'
This letter contained that species of advice which is frequently givenfor the precise purpose that it may lead to a directly opposite conductfrom that which it recommends. At least so thought Brown, whoimmediately asked the young fisherman if he came from Portanferry.
'Ay,' said the lad; 'I am auld Willie Johnstone's son, and I got thatletter 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, Iwish 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, thedischarging his lodgings, and the expense of his living, together withthat of a change of dress, which safety as well as a proper regard tohis external appearance rendered necessary, brought Brown's purse to avery low ebb. He left directions at the post-office that his lettersshould be forwarded to Kippletringan, whither he resolved to proceedand reclaim the treasure which he had deposited in the hands of Mrs.MacCandlish. He also felt it would be his duty to assume his propercharacter as soon as he should receive the necessary evidence forsupporting it, and, as an officer in the king's service, give andreceive every explanation which might be necessary with youngHazlewood. 'If he is not very wrong-headed indeed,' he thought, 'hemust allow the manner in which I acted to have been the necessaryconsequence of his own overbearing conduct.'
And now we must suppose him once more embarked on the Solway Firth. Thewind was adverse, attended by some rain, and they struggled against itwithout much assistance from the tide. The boat was heavily laden withgoods (part of which were probably contraband), and laboured deep inthe sea. Brown, who had been bred a sailor, and was indeed skilled inmost athletic exercises, gave his powerful and effectual assistance inrowing, or occasionally in steering the boat, and his advice in themanagement, which became the more delicate as the wind increased, and,being opposed to the very rapid tides of that coast, made the voyageperilous. At length, after spending the whole night upon the firth,they were at morning within sight of a beautiful bay upon the Scottishcoast. The weather was now more mild. The snow, which had been for sometime waning, had given way entirely under the fresh gale of thepreceding night. The more distant hills, indeed, retained their snowymantle, but all the open country was cleared, unless where a few whitepatches indicated that it had been drifted to an uncommon depth. Evenunder its wintry appearance the shore was highly interesting. The lineof 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. Andit was no less relieved and varied in elevation than in outline by thedifferent forms of the shore, the beach in some places being edged bysteep rocks, and in others rising smoothly from the sands in easy andswelling slopes. Buildings of different kinds caught and reflected thewintry sunbeams of a December morning, and the woods, though nowleafless, gave relief and variety to the landscape. Brown felt thatlively and awakening interest which taste and sensibility always derivefrom the beauties of nature when opening suddenly to the eye after thedulness and gloom of a night voyage. Perhaps--for who can presume toanalyse that inexplicable feeling which binds the person born in amountainous country to, his native hills--perhaps some earlyassociations, retaining their effect long after the cause wasforgotten, mingled in the feelings of pleasure with which he regardedthe scene before him.
'And what,' said Brown to the boatman, 'is the name of that fine capethat stretches into the sea with its sloping banks and hillocks ofwood, and forms the right side of the bay?'
'Warroch Point,' answered the lad.
'And that old castle, my friend, with the modern house situated justbeneath 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'llland you there if you like.'
'I should like it of all things. I must visit that ruin before Icontinue my journey.'
'Ay, it's a queer auld bit,' said the fisherman; 'and that highesttower 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 farther particulars, but a fisherman isseldom an antiquary. His boatman's local knowledge was summed up in theinformation already given, 'that it was a grand landmark, and thatthere 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 thecastle was situated, which frowned from the summit of its rocky siteupon the still agitated waves of the bay beneath. 'I believe,' said thesteersman, 'ye'll get ashore here as dry as ony gate. There's a placewhere their berlins and galleys, as they ca'd them, used to lie in langsyne, but it's no used now, because it's ill carrying gudes up thenarrow stairs or ower the rocks. Whiles of a moonlight night I havelanded articles there, though.'
While he thus spoke they pulled round a point of rock, and found a verysmall harbour, partly formed by nature, partly by the indefatigablelabour of the ancient inhabitants of the castle, who, as the fishermanobserved, had found it essential for the protection of their boats andsmall craft, though it could not receive vessels of any burden. The twopoints of rock which formed the access approached each other so nearlythat only one boat could enter at a time. On each side were stillremaining two immense iron rings, deeply morticed into the solid rock.Through these, according to tradition, there was nightly drawn a hugechain, secured by an immense padlock, for the protection of the havenand the armada which it contained. A ledge of rock had, by theassistance of the chisel and pickaxe, been formed into a sort of quay.The rock was of extremely hard consistence, and the task so difficultthat, according to the fisherman, a labourer who wrought at the workmight in the evening have carried home in his bonnet all the shiverswhich he had struck from the mass in the course of the day. This littlequay communicated with a rude staircase, already repeatedly mentioned,which descended from the old castle. There was also a communicationbetween the beach and the quay, by scrambling over the rocks.
'Ye had better land here,' said the lad, 'for the surf's running highat the Shellicoat Stane, and there will no be a dry thread amang us orwe get the cargo out. Na! na! (in answer to an offer of money) ye havewrought for your passage, and wrought far better than ony o' us. Gudeday to ye; I wuss ye weel.'
So saying, he pushed oil in order to land his cargo on the oppositeside of the bay; and Brown, with a small bundle in his hand, containingthe trifling stock of necessaries which he had been obliged to purchaseat Allonby, was left on the rocks beneath the ruin.
And thus, unconscious as the most absolute stranger, and incircumstances which, if not destitute, were for the present highlyembarrassing, without the countenance of a friend within the circle ofseveral hundred miles, accused of a heavy crime, and, what was as badas all the rest, being nearly penniless, did the harassed wanderer forthe first time after the interval of so many years approach the remainsof the castle where his ancestors had exercised all but regal dominion.