But often in the gloaming Sandy himself came climbing up by the ivy3 on the outside of the well-tower, letting his great body down through the narrow broken lattice in the tiles. And in that narrow chamber5 we cheered one another with talk. This I liked well enough, so long as he spoke6 of Groningen and the Low Countries. But not so well when he began to deafen7 me with his bickerings about the United Societies—how there was one, Patrick Laing, a man of fierce and determined8 nature, that could not company with other than himself; how Mr. Linning wrestled9 with the other malcontents, and especially how he himself was of so great honour and consideration among them, that they had put off even so grave a matter as a General Meeting that he might have time to come from Edinburgh to attend it. And in what manner, at the peril10 of his life, he did it.
One night, while he was in the midst of his recital11, the mighty12 voice of him sounding out upon the night brought the sentry13 from his corner—who listened, but could not understand whence came the sounds. Presently the soldier called his comrade, and the pair of them stole to the door of the well-house, where I had lain so long in safety. Sandy was in the heat of his discourse14, and I sitting against the chamber wall in my knee-breeches, and with a plaid about me, listening at my ease. For long immunity15 had made us both careless.
"At Darmead, that well-kenned place, we had it," Sandy was saying, his long limbs extended half-way across the floor as he lay on the bare boards, and told his story; "it was a day of glorious witnessing and contesting. No two of us thought the same thing. Each had his own say-away and his own reasons, and never a minister to override16 us. Indeed, since Ritchie lay down at length on Ayrsmoss to rest him, there is no minister that could. But I hear of a young man, Renwick, that is now with Mr. Brackel of Leeuwarden, that will scare some of the ill-conditioned when he comes across the water——"
Even as he spoke thus, and blattered with the broad of his hand on his knee, the trap-door in the floor slowly lifted up. And through the aperture17 came the head of a soldier—even that of the sentry of the night, with whose footfalls I had grown so familiar, that I minded them no more than the ticking of the watch in your pocket or the beating of your heart in the daytime.
The man seemed even more surprised than we, and for a long moment he abode18 still, looking at Sandy reclining on the floor. And Sandy looked back at him with his jaw19 dropped and his mouth open. I could have laughed at another time, for they were both great red men with beards of that colour, and their faces were very near one another, like those of the yokels20 that grin at each other emulously out of the horse collars on the turbulent day of the Clachan Fair—which is on the eve of St. John, in the time of midsummer.
Then suddenly Sandy snatched an unlighted lantern, and brought it down on the soldier's head, which went through the trap-door like Jack-out-of-the-box being shut down again.
"Tak' the skylight for it, William," Sandy cried. "I'll e'en gang doon an' see what this loon21 wants!"
So snatching a sword that lay upon the boards by his side, Sandy went down the trap after his man. I heard him fall mightily22 upon the two soldiers to whom had been committed the keeping of the house that night. In that narrow place he gripped them both with the first claucht of his great arms, and dadded their heads together, exhorting23 them all the time to repent24 and think on their evil ways.
"Wad ye, then, vermin," he cried as one and another tried to get at him with their weapons round the narrow edge of the well-curb; and I heard one after another of their tools clatter25 down the masonry26 of the well, and plump into the water at the bottom. The men were in their heavy marching gear, being ready at all times for the coming of Clavers, who was a great man for discipline, and very particular that the soldiers should always be properly equipped whenever it might please him to arrive. And because he loved night marches and sudden surprises, the men took great pains with their accoutrement.
"Can I help ye, Sandy?" I cried down through the hole.
"Bide27 ye whaur ye are, man. I can manage the hullions fine! Wad ye, then? Stan' up there back to back, or I'll gie ye anither daud on the kerb that may leave some o' your harns[8] stickin' to it. Noo, I'll put the rape28 roon ye, an' ease ye doon to a braw and caller spot!"
I looked down the trap and saw Sandy roving the spare coil of well-rope round and round his two prisoners. He had their hands close to their sides, and whenever one of them opened his mouth, Sandy gave his head a knock with his open hand that drave him silent again, clapping his teeth together like castanets from Spain.
As soon as he had this completed to his satisfaction, he lifted the bucket from the hook, and began to lower the men down the shaft29, slinging30 them to the rope by the belly-bands of His Majesty's regimental breeches.
The men cried out to ask if he meant to drown them.
"Na, na, droon nane," said Sandy. "There's but three feet o' water in the well. Ye'll be fine and caller doon there a' nicht, but gin ye as muckle as gie a cry afore the morrow's sunrise—weel, ye hae heard o' Sandy Gordon o' the Earlstoun!"
And this, indeed, feared the men greatly, for he was celebrated31 for his strength and daring all athwart the country; and especially among soldiers and common people, who, as is well known, are never done talking about feats32 of strength.
This being completed, he brought me down from my loft33 and took me into the house to bid the women folk farewell. They cried out with terror when he told them what he had done as a noble jest, and how he had bound the soldiers and put them in the well-bottom. But my mother said sadly, "It is the beginning of the end! O Sandy, why could you not have been content with scaring them?"
"It was our lives or theirs, mither," said Sandy. "Had they gotten room to put steel into me, your first-born son wad hae been at the well-bottom, wi' his heid doon an' his mooth open, and your second dangling34 in a hempen35 collar in the Grass Market. The eggs are all in one basket now, mither!"
"Haste ye away!" cried she, "lest the soldiers break lowse and come and find ye here!"
"They hae somewhat better sense than to break lowse this nicht," said Sandy, grimly smiling. "I'm gaun nane to tak' the heather withoot my supper."
So he sat him down on the settle like a man at ease and well content.
"Jean, fetch the plates," he said to his wife; "it's graund to be hungry an' ken4 o' meat!"
Maisie Lennox stood quietly by; but I could see that she liked not the turn of affairs, nor the reckless way that Sandy had of driving all things before him.
"Haste ye, young lass," he said to her, and at the word she went quietly to help Jean Hamilton.
"Whither gang ye?" our mother said to us, as we made us ready to flee. "Mind and be canny36 wi' that laddie, Sandy, for he has been ill and needs care and tendance to this day."
And it pleased me to see that Maisie Lennox looked pale and anxious when she came near me. But no word spoke she.
"Na, mither. I'll no tell ye whaur we gang, for ye micht be put to the question, and now ye can say ye dinna ken wi' a guid conscience."
I got a word with Maisie at the stair foot as she went up to bring some plaid or kerchief down, which our mother insisted I should take with me.
"Maisie," I said, "ye'll no forget me, will ye?"
But she would give me no great present satisfaction.
"There are so many gay things in my life to gar me forget a friend!" was all she said; but she looked down and pulled at her apron37.
"Nay38, but tell me, my lassie, will ye think every day o' the lad ye nursed in the well-house chamber?"
"Your mother is crying on me," she said; "let me go, William" (though indeed I was not touching39 her).
I was turning away disappointed with no word more, but very suddenly she snatched my hand which had fallen to my side, pressed it a moment to her breast, and then fled upstairs like a young roe40.
So, laden41 with wrappings, Sandy and I took our way over the moor42, making our path through our own oakwood, which is the largest in Galloway, and out by Blawquhairn and Gordiestoun upon the moor of Bogue—a wet and marshy43 place, save in the height of the dry season. Sandy was for going towards a hold that he had near the lonely, wind-swept loch of Knockman, which lies near the top of a hill of heather and bent44. But as we came to the breast of the Windy Brae, I felt my weakness, and a cold sweat began to drip from me.
"Sandy," I said to my brother, taking him by the hand lest he should go too fast for me, "I fear I shall be but a trouble to you. Leave me, I pray you, at Gordiestoun to take my chance, and hie you to the heather. It'll maybe no be a hanging matter wi' me at ony gate."
"Hear till him," said Sandy, "leave him! I'll leave the laddie nane. The man doesna breathe that Sanquhar and Ayrsmoss are no eneuch to draw the thrapple o', were it my Lord Chancellor45 himsel'!"
He bent and took me on his back. "There na, is that comfortable?" he said; and away he strode with me as though he had been a giant.
"Man, ye need mony a bow o' meal to your ribs," he cried, making light of the load. "Ye are no heavier than a lamb in the poke-neuk o' a plaid."
I think he was sorry for stirring me from the well-chamber, and the thought of his kindness made me like him better than I had manned to do for some time.
And indeed my weight seemed no more to him, than that of a motherless suckling to a shepherd on the hill, when he steps homeward at the close of the day. It is a great thing to be strong. If only Sandy had possessed46 the knack47 of gentleness with it, he would have been a great man. As it was, he was only the Bull of Earlstoun.
We kept in our flight over the benty fell towards Milnmark, but holding more down to the right towards the Garpel burn where there are many dens48 and fastnesses, and where the Covenant49 folk had often companied together.
I was afraid to think what should come to my sickness, when the cold shelves of the rock by the Dass of the Holy Linn would be my bed, instead of the comfortable blankets of the well-house. And, truth to tell, I was not thanking my brother for his heedlessness in compelling the exchange, when I felt him stumble down the steep bank of the Garpel and stride across, the water dashing about his legs as he waded50 through—taking, as was his wont51, no thought of an easy way or of keeping of himself dry, but just going on ram-stam till he had won clear.
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1
stoutly
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| adv.牢固地，粗壮的 | |
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2
lodging
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| n.寄宿，住所；(大学生的)校外宿舍 | |
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ivy
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| n.常青藤，常春藤 | |
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ken
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| n.视野，知识领域 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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6
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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7
deafen
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| vt.震耳欲聋；使听不清楚 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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9
wrestled
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| v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的过去式和过去分词 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤 | |
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10
peril
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| n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物 | |
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recital
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| n.朗诵，独奏会，独唱会 | |
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12
mighty
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| adj.强有力的；巨大的 | |
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sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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14
discourse
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| n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述 | |
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15
immunity
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| n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权 | |
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16
override
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| vt.不顾，不理睬，否决；压倒，优先于 | |
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aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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18
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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yokels
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| n.乡下佬，土包子( yokel的名词复数 ) | |
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loon
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| n.狂人 | |
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mightily
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| ad.强烈地；非常地 | |
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exhorting
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| v.劝告，劝说( exhort的现在分词 ) | |
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repent
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| v.悔悟，悔改，忏悔，后悔 | |
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25
clatter
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| v./n.(使)发出连续而清脆的撞击声 | |
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masonry
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| n.砖土建筑；砖石 | |
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bide
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| v.忍耐；等候；住 | |
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rape
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| n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸 | |
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29
shaft
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| n.(工具的)柄，杆状物 | |
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30
slinging
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| 抛( sling的现在分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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31
celebrated
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| adj.有名的，声誉卓著的 | |
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32
feats
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| 功绩，伟业，技艺( feat的名词复数 ) | |
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33
loft
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| n.阁楼，顶楼 | |
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34
dangling
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| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
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35
hempen
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| adj. 大麻制的, 大麻的 | |
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canny
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| adj.谨慎的，节俭的 | |
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apron
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| n.围裙；工作裙 | |
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38
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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40
roe
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| n.鱼卵；獐鹿 | |
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41
laden
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| adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的 | |
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42
moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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43
marshy
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| adj.沼泽的 | |
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44
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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45
chancellor
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| n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长 | |
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46
possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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47
knack
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| n.诀窍，做事情的灵巧的，便利的方法 | |
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48
dens
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| n.牙齿，齿状部分；兽窝( den的名词复数 )；窝点；休息室；书斋 | |
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49
covenant
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| n.盟约，契约；v.订盟约 | |
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50
waded
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| （从水、泥等）蹚，走过，跋( wade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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51
wont
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| adj.习惯于；v.习惯；n.习惯 | |
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