the earth, when Sanders Aikwood, that was forester in thae days, the father o' Ringan that now is, was gaun daundering about the wood at e'en, to see after the Laird's game and whiles he wad hae seen a glance o' the light frae the door o' the cave, flaughtering against the hazels on the other bank;--and then siccan stories as Sanders had about the worricows and gyre-carlins that haunted about the auld wa's at e'en, and the lights that he had seen, and the cries that he had heard, when there was nae mortal e'e open but his ain; and eh! as he wad thrum them ower and ower to the like o' me ayont the ingle at e'en, and as I wad gie the auld silly carle grane for grane, and tale for tale, though I ken'd muckle better about it than ever he did.Ay, ay--they were daft days thae;--but they were a' vanity, and waur,--and it's fitting that they wha hae led a light and evil life, and abused charity when they were young, suld aiblins come to lack it when they are auld.''
While Ochiltree was thus recounting the exploits and tricks of his earlier life, with a tone in which glee and compunction alternately predominated, his unfortunate auditor had sat down upon the hermit's seat, hewn out of the solid rock, and abandoned himself to that lassitude, both of mind and body, which generally follows a course of events that have agitated both, The effect of his late indisposition, which had much weakened his system, contributed to this lethargic despondency.``The puir bairn!'' said auld Edie, ``an he sleeps in this damp hole, he'll maybe wauken nae mair, or catch some sair disease.It's no the same to him as to the like o' us, that can sleep ony gate an anes our wames are fu'.Sit up, Maister Lovel, lad! After a's come and gane, I dare say the captain-lad will do weel eneugh--and, after a', ye are no the first that has had this misfortune.I hae seen mony a man killed, and helped to kill them mysell, though there was nae quarrel between us--and if it isna wrang to kill folk we have nae quarrel wi', just because they wear another sort of a cockade, and speak a foreign language, I canna see but a man may have excuse for killing his ain mortal foe, that comes armed to the fair field to kill him.I dinna say it's right--God forbid--or that it isna sinfu'
to take away what ye canna restore, and that's the breath of man, whilk is in his nostrils; but I say it is a sin to be forgiven if it's repented of.Sinfu' men are we a'; but if ye wad believe an auld grey sinner that has seen the evil o' his ways, there is as much promise atween the twa boards o' the Testament as wad save the warst o' us, could we but think sae.''
With such scraps of comfort and of divinity as he possessed, the mendicant thus continued to solicit and compel the attention of Lovel, until the twilight began to fade into night.``Now,''
said Ochiltree, ``I will carry ye to a mair convenient place, where I hae sat mony a time to hear the howlit crying out of the ivy tod, and to see the moonlight come through the auld windows o' the ruins.There can be naebody come here after this time o' night; and if they hae made ony search, thae blackguard shirra'-officers and constables, it will hae been ower lang syne.Od, they are as great cowards as ither folk, wi' a'
their warrants and king's keys<*>--I hae gien some o' them a * The king's keys are, in law phrase, the crow-bars and hammers used * to force doors and locks, in execution of the king's warrant.
gliff in my day, when they were coming rather ower near me--But, lauded be grace for it! they canna stir me now for ony waur than an auld man and a beggar, and my badge is a gude protection; and then Miss Isabella Wardour is a tower o'
strength, ye ken''--(Lovel sighed)--``Aweel, dinna be cast down--bowls may a' row right yet--gie the lassie time to ken her mind.She's the wale o' the country for beauty, and a gude friend o' mine--I gang by the bridewell as safe as by the kirk on a Sabbath--deil ony o' them daur hurt a hair o' auld Edie's head now; I keep the crown o' the causey when I gae to the borough, and rub shouthers wi' a bailie wi' as little concern as an he were a brock.''
While the mendicant spoke thus, he was busied in removing a few loose stones in one angle of the eave, which obscured the entrance of the staircase of which he had spoken, and led the way into it, followed by Lovel in passive silence.
``The air's free eneugh,'' said the old man; ``the monks took care o' that, for they werena a lang-breathed generation, I reckon;they hae contrived queer tirlie-wirlie holes, that gang out to the open air, and keep the stair as caller as a kail-blade.''
Lovel accordingly found the staircase well aired, and, though narrow, it was neither ruinous nor long, but speedily admitted them into a narrow gallery contrived to run within the side wall of the chancel, from which it received air and light through apertures ingeniously hidden amid the florid ornaments of the Gothic architecture.
``This secret passage ance gaed round great part o' the biggin,'' said the beggar, ``and through the wa' o' the place I've heard Monkbarns ca' the Refractory'' [meaning probably _Refectory_], ``and so awa to the Prior's ain house.It's like he could use it to listen what the monks were saying at meal-time, --and then he might come ben here and see that they were busy skreighing awa wi' the psalms doun below there; and then, when he saw a' was right and tight, he might step awa and fetch in a bonnie lass at the cove yonder--for they were queer hands the monks, unless mony lees is made on them.But our folk were at great pains lang syne to big up the passage in some parts, and pu' it down in others, for fear o' some uncanny body getting into it, and finding their way down to the cove: it wad hae been a fashious job that--by my certie, some o' our necks wad hae been ewking.''