The Black Dwarf Read online

  CHAPTER IX.

  So spak the knicht; the geaunt sed, Lend forth with the the sely maid, And mak me quile of the and sche; For glaunsing ee, or brow so brent, Or cheek with rose and lilye blent, Me lists not ficht with the.--ROMANCE OF THE FALCON.

  The tower, before which the party now stood, was a small squarebuilding, of the most gloomy aspect. The walls were of great thickness,and the windows, or slits which served the purpose of windows, seemedrather calculated to afford the defenders the means of employing missileweapons, than for admitting air or light to the apartments within. Asmall battlement projected over the walls on every side, and affordedfarther advantage of defence by its niched parapet, within which arosea steep roof, flagged with grey stones. A single turret at one angle,defended by a door studded with huge iron nails, rose above thebattlement, and gave access to the roof from within, by the spiralstaircase which it enclosed. It seemed to the party that their motionswere watched by some one concealed within this turret; and they wereconfirmed in their belief when, through a narrow loophole, a female handwas seen to wave a handkerchief, as if by way of signal to them. Hobbiewas almost out of his senses with joy and eagerness.

  "It was Grace's hand and arm," he said; "I can swear to it amang athousand. There is not the like of it on this side of the Lowdens--We'llhave her out, lads, if we should carry off the Tower of Westburnflatstane by stane."

  Earnscliff, though he doubted the possibility of recognising a fairmaiden's hand at such a distance from the eye of the lover, would saynothing to damp his friend's animated hopes, and it was resolved tosummon the garrison.

  The shouts of the party, and the winding of one or two horns, at lengthbrought to a loophole, which flanked the entrance, the haggard face ofan old woman.

  "That's the Reiver's mother," said one of the Elliots; "she's ten timeswaur than himsell, and is wyted for muckle of the ill he does about thecountry."

  "Wha are ye? what d'ye want here?" were the queries of the respectableprogenitor.

  "We are seeking William Graeme of Westburnflat," said Earnscliff.

  "He's no at hame," returned the old dame.

  "When did he leave home?" pursued Earnscliff.

  "I canna tell," said the portress.

  "When will he return?" said Hobbie Elliot.

  "I dinna ken naething about it," replied the inexorable guardian of thekeep.

  "Is there anybody within the tower with you?" again demanded Earnscliff.

  "Naebody but mysell and baudrons," said the old woman.

  "Then open the gate and admit us," said Earnscliff; "I am a justice ofpeace, and in search of the evidence of a felony."

  "Deil be in their fingers that draws a bolt for ye," retorted theportress; "for mine shall never do it. Thinkna ye shame o' yoursells,to come here siccan a band o' ye, wi' your swords, and spears, andsteel-caps, to frighten a lone widow woman?"

  "Our information," said Earnscliff; "is positive; we are seeking goodswhich have been forcibly carried off, to a great amount."

  "And a young woman, that's been cruelly made prisoner, that's worth mairthan a' the gear, twice told," said Hobbie.

  "And I warn you." continued Earnscliff, "that your only way to proveyour son's innocence is to give us quiet admittance to search thehouse."

  "And what will ye do, if I carena to thraw the keys, or draw the bolts,or open the grate to sic a clamjamfrie?" said the old dame, scoffingly.

  "Force our way with the king's keys, and break the neck of every livingsoul we find in the house, if ye dinna gie it ower forthwith!" menacedthe incensed Hobbie.

  "Threatened folks live lang," said the hag, in the same tone of irony;"there's the iron grate--try your skeel on't, lads--it has kept out asgude men as you or now."

  So saying, she laughed, and withdrew from the aperture through which shehad held the parley.

  The besiegers now opened a serious consultation. The immense thicknessof the walls, and the small size of the windows, might, for a time, haveeven resisted cannon-shot. The entrance was secured, first, by a stronggrated door, composed entirely of hammered iron, of such ponderousstrength as seemed calculated to resist any force that could be broughtagainst it. "Pinches or forehammers will never pick upon't," saidHugh, the blacksmith of Ringleburn; "ye might as weel batter at it wi'pipe-staples."

  Within the doorway, and at the distance of nine feet, which was thesolid thickness of the wall, there was a second door of oak, crossed,both breadth and lengthways, with clenched bars of iron, and studdedfull of broad-headed nails. Besides all these defences, they were by nomeans confident in the truth of the old dame's assertion, that shealone composed the garrison. The more knowing of the party had observedhoof-marks in the track by which they approached the tower, whichseemed to indicate that several persons had very lately passed in thatdirection.

  To all these difficulties was added their want of means for attackingthe place. There was no hope of procuring ladders long enough to reachthe battlements, and the windows, besides being very narrow, weresecured with iron bars. Scaling was therefore out of the question;mining was still more so, for want of tools and gunpowder; neitherwere the besiegers provided with food, means of shelter, or otherconveniences, which might have enabled them to convert the siege into ablockade; and there would, at any rate, have been a risk of relief fromsome of the marauder's comrades. Hobbie grinded and gnashed his teeth,as, walking round the fastness, he could devise no means of making aforcible entry. At length he suddenly exclaimed, "And what for no do asour fathers did lang syne?--Put hand to the wark, lads. Let us cut upbushes and briers, pile them before the door and set fire to them, andsmoke that auld devil's dam as if she were to be reested for bacon."

  All immediately closed with this proposal, and some went to work withswords and knives to cut down the alder and hawthorn bushes which grewby the side of the sluggish stream, many of which were sufficientlydecayed and dried for their purpose, while others began to collectthem in a large stack, properly disposed for burning, as close to theiron-grate as they could be piled. Fire was speedily obtained fromone of their guns, and Hobbie was already advancing to the pile with akindled brand, when the surly face of the robber, and the muzzle ofa musquetoon, were partially shown at a shot-hole which flanked theentrance. "Mony thanks to ye," he said, scoffingly, "for collecting saemuckle winter eilding for us; but if ye step a foot nearer it wi' thatlunt, it's be the dearest step ye ever made in your days."

  "We'll sune see that," said Hobbie, advancing fearlessly with the torch.

  The marauder snapped his piece at him, which, fortunately for our honestfriend, did not go off; while Earnscliff, firing at the same momentat the narrow aperture and slight mark afforded by the robber's face,grazed the side of his head with a bullet. He had apparently calculatedupon his post affording him more security, for he no sooner feltthe wound, though a very slight one, than he requested a parley,and demanded to know what they meant by attacking in this fashion apeaceable and honest man, and shedding his blood in that lawless manner?

  "We want your prisoner," said Earnscliff, "to be delivered up to us insafety."

  "And what concern have you with her?" replied the marauder.

  "That," retorted Earnscliff, "you, who are detaining her by force, haveno right to enquire."

  "Aweel, I think I can gie a guess," said the robber. "Weel, sirs, I amlaith to enter into deadly feud with you by spilling ony of your bluid,though Earnscliff hasna stopped to shed mine--and he can hit a mark to agroat's breadth--so, to prevent mair skaith, I am willing to deliver upthe prisoner, since nae less will please you."

  "And Hobbie's gear?" cried Simon of Hackburn. "D'ye think you're to befree to plunder the faulds and byres of a gentle Elliot, as if they werean auld wife's hens'-cavey?"

  "As I live by bread," replied Willie of Westburnflat "As I live bybread, I have not a single cloot o' them! They're a' ower the march langsyne; there's no a horn o' them about the tower. But I'll see what o'them can be gotten back, and I'll take
this day twa days to meet Hobbieat the Castleton wi' twa friends on ilka side, and see to make anagreement about a' the wrang he can wyte me wi'."

  "Ay, ay," said Elliot, "that will do weel eneugh."--And then aside tohis kinsman, "Murrain on the gear! Lordsake, man! say nought about them.Let us but get puir Grace out o' that auld hellicat's clutches."

  "Will ye gie me your word, Earnscliff," said the marauder, who stilllingered at the shot-hole, "your faith and troth, with hand and glove,that I am free to come and free to gae, with five minutes to open thegrate, and five minutes to steek it and to draw the bolts? less winnado, for they want creishing sairly. Will ye do this?"

  "You shall have full time," said Earnscliff; "I plight my faith andtroth, my hand and my glove."

  "Wait there a moment, then," said Westburnflat; "or hear ye, I wadrather ye wad fa' back a pistol-shot from the door. It's no that Imistrust your word, Earnscliff; but it's best to be sure."

  O, friend, thought Hobbie to himself, as he drew back, an I had you buton Turner's-holm, [There is a level meadow, on the very margin of thetwo kingdoms, called Turner's-holm, just where the brook called Crissopjoins the Liddel. It is said to have derived its name as being a placefrequently assigned for tourneys, during the ancient Border times.] andnaebody by but twa honest lads to see fair play, I wad make ye wish yehad broken your leg ere ye had touched beast or body that belanged tome!

  "He has a white feather in his wing this same Westburnflat, aftera'," said Simon of Hackburn, somewhat scandalized by his readysurrender.--"He'll ne'er fill his father's boots."

  In the meanwhile, the inner door of the tower was opened, and the motherof the freebooter appeared in the space betwixt that and the outergrate. Willie himself was next seen, leading forth a female, and the oldwoman, carefully bolting the grate behind them, remained on the post asa sort of sentinel.

  "Ony ane or twa o' ye come forward," said the outlaw, "and take her fraemy hand haill and sound."

  Hobbie advanced eagerly, to meet his betrothed bride. Earnsclifffollowed more slowly, to guard against treachery. Suddenly Hobbieslackened his pace in the deepest mortification, while that ofEarnscliff was hastened by impatient surprise. It was not GraceArmstrong, but Miss Isabella Vere, whose liberation had been effected bytheir appearance before the tower.

  "Where is Grace? where is Grace Armstrong?" exclaimed Hobbie, in theextremity of wrath and indignation.

  "Not in my hands," answered Westburnflat; "ye may search the tower, ifye misdoubt me."

  "You false villain, you shall account for her, or die on the spot," saidElliot, presenting his gun.

  But his companions, who now came up, instantly disarmed him of hisweapon, exclaiming, all at once, "Hand and glove! faith and troth! Hauda care, Hobbie we maun keep our faith wi' Westburnflat, were he thegreatest rogue ever rode."

  Thus protected, the outlaw recovered his audacity, which had beensomewhat daunted by the menacing gesture of Elliot.

  "I have kept my word, sirs," he said, "and I look to have nae wrangamang ye. If this is no the prisoner ye sought," he said, addressingEarnscliff, "ye'll render her back to me again. I am answerable for herto those that aught her."

  "For God's sake, Mr. Earnscliff, protect me!" said Miss Vere, clingingto her deliverer; "do not you abandon one whom the whole world seems tohave abandoned."

  "Fear nothing," whispered Earnscliff, "I will protect you with my life."Then turning to Westburnflat, "Villain!" he said, "how dared you toinsult this lady?"

  "For that matter, Earnscliff," answered the freebooter, "I can answer tothem that has better right to ask me than you have; but if you come withan armed force, and take her awa' from them that her friends lodged herwi', how will you answer THAT--But it's your ain affair--Nae single mancan keep a tower against twenty--A' the men o' the Mearns downa do mairthan they dow."

  "He lies most falsely," said Isabella; "he carried me off by violencefrom my father."

  "Maybe he only wanted ye to think sae, hinny," replied the robber; "butit's nae business o' mine, let it be as it may.--So ye winna resign herback to me?"

  "Back to you, fellow? Surely no," answered Earnscliff; "I willprotect Miss Vere, and escort her safely wherever she is pleased to beconveyed."

  "Ay, ay, maybe you and her hae settled that already," said Willie ofWestburnflat.

  "And Grace?" interrupted Hobbie, shaking himself loose from the friendswho had been preaching to him the sanctity of the safe-conduct, uponthe faith of which the freebooter had ventured from his tower,--"Where'sGrace?" and he rushed on the marauder, sword in hand.

  Westburnflat, thus pressed, after calling out, "Godsake, Hobbie, hearme a gliff!" fairly turned his back and fled. His mother stood readyto open and shut the grate; but Hobbie struck at the freebooter as heentered with so much force, that the sword made a considerable cleft inthe lintel of the vaulted door, which is still shown as a memorial ofthe superior strength of those who lived in the days of yore. EreHobbie could repeat the blow, the door was shut and secured, and he wascompelled to retreat to his companions, who were now preparing to breakup the siege of Westburnflat. They insisted upon his accompanying themin their return.

  "Ye hae broken truce already," said old Dick of the Dingle; "an wetakena the better care, ye'll play mair gowk's tricks, and make yoursellthe laughing-stock of the haill country, besides having your friendscharged with slaughter under trust. Bide till the meeting at Castleton,as ye hae greed; and if he disna make ye amends, then we'll hae it outo' his heart's blood. But let us gang reasonably to wark and keep ourtryst, and I'se warrant we get back Grace, and the kye an' a'."

  This cold-blooded reasoning went ill down with the unfortunate lover;but, as he could only obtain the assistance of his neighbours andkinsmen on their own terms, he was compelled to acquiesce in theirnotions of good faith and regular procedure.

  Earnscliff now requested the assistance of a few of the party toconvey Miss Vere to her father's castle of Ellieslaw, to which she wasperemptory in desiring to be conducted. This was readily granted; andfive or six young men agreed to attend him as an escort. Hobbie was notof the number. Almost heart-broken by the events of the day, and hisfinal disappointment, he returned moodily home to take such measures ashe could for the sustenance and protection of his family, and to arrangewith his neighbours the farther steps which should be adopted forthe recovery of Grace Armstrong. The rest of the party dispersed indifferent directions, as soon as they had crossed the morass. Theoutlaw and his mother watched them from the tower, until they entirelydisappeared.