CHAPTER XVII.

Te Aroha News, Volume VI, Issue 343, 16 February 1889, Page 4

CHAPTER XVII.

THK PLOT DEEPENS. Sik Malcolm's iirsb movement, after his return to tho casfcle, was to seek the chamber, woman, Nelly Nichol, whom he at length found, by dint of long and patient search^ in the passage leading to that section of. Edgar's Tower on a level with the principal sleeping chambers of the keep. She was plainly startled by his appearance ; and, under the impulse of the instant, a low, quick cry of alarm escaped her : but when she had seen who it was that had thus come upon her, she smiled at her own foolish terror, and, without waiting to be questioned, told why she was there, in that part of the dormitory. She had determined, she said, to watch for the ghost, and she had come to look over the territory where it was said co wander. ' O ! Sir Malcolm, when I &cc my poor dear mistress so cast down and well-nigh heart-broken by feais of that terrible man, who calls himself her cousin — Heaven save the mark ! He isn't her cousin any more than I am. I a?k you, noble sir— is he ?' The young man was nlmost inclined to smile at the woman's simple, hearty earnestness in defending her mistress from the contamination of such a relationship. He answered soberly, however, and frankly : 'There is ccitainly no relationship of blood between Lady Blanche and Reynard Bevern ; nor is there any within the meaning of the law. If there were no will in existence, he could no more inherit under his kinship than could you.' 'Aye,' continued the devoted servitor, with flashing eyes ; ' and he is the man because of that will, who is fretting and ; worrying my dear lady almost to death. It makes my heaifc ache to see her, and I know if help is to come, it must come with the return of the will that is lost. And so, sir, I have made up my mind that I will keep a watch for the ghost every night until I can once more see it. lam not afraid of it. I feel in my heart that it is .a kindly spirit to us who are friends of the dear old baron that's dead, and his living, sulieiiug daughter. That, Sir Malcolm, is why you find me here. lam going over the ground, to see where I can be-t secrete myself for the watch.' ' Nelly !' cried the youth, with grateful enthusiasm, "you aie a good ghl, and I honour you for your faith and loyalty. Be sure, if success shall crown our efforts, you will not be forgotten. And now, I have a favour to ask. Aye, 1 have two of them. For the purpose of asking something at your hands, I have now sought you ; but I will make another request first ; and it is this: If, at any time — no matter when, no matter where — you shall discover the spectre, will you let me know of it immediately? If I should chance to be in my bed, and asleep, you must find someway to arouse me. Remembering the great need — the suffering of your lady — the suffering in fact of all who are friendly to her — you will put away all fears boi nof a false modesty. Arouse me as you would arouse your own brother whose life was threatened. Will you do ohis ?' Nelly promised, without a shadow of hesitation, that she would do to. ' Bear in mind,' he urged, ' I must know at the earliest possible moment. All may depend upon that.' She assured him that he should not be disappointed. 1 And now,' he said, speaking more slowly, and with a kindly look into her earnest, expectant eyes, 'you remember I told you that the time might come when I should look to you for help. You are aware that I have a powerful enemy — an enemy who is, ab the present moment, supported by a strong force of armed men. I have not a particle of doubt that Reynard Bevern would kill me, or cause me to be killed if he dared.' '0 ! sir, ' broke in Nelly, eagerly, ' I know he would ; and I have thought of it ever so many times ; and once I had almost spoken to my mistress about it ; but I thought how it would frighten her, and I held my peace. But, Sir Malcolm, he would do it, I am sure ; and I aren't ashamed to tell you, now, that that's one reason why I've been so anxious to know what he and Duff were talking about so secretly.' ' Well, well, Nelly ; I needn't tell you how grateful 1 am. The fact that I come to you now for help proves to you how I trust you. Now, listen : Though the bad, vengeful man dares not kill me, there are many things ho might dare to do. 1 know that he regards me as an interloper, and a meddler ; and I can say to you that my known love of your sweet mistress, and her love for myself, rankles bitterly in his bosom, and fills him with wrath.' ' Oh ! don't I know it, sir ?' 'Of course you do : and you must also know that he will seek to revenge himself upon me if he can. Nelfy, you keep your eyes open ; and you might speak with one other, whom you can trust to help you. I will speak with Sandy Graham ; and if you should discover that Reynard has gone at work to give me trouble — if he has placed me where I cannot help my&elf, a thing he might easily do if he took me unawares— if you shall detect anything of that kind which shall lead you to think that I am in danger ; or if Sandy shall come to you with warning, you must do what I tell you. You have seen those black friars' robes in your lady's keeping ?' ' Yes, sir.' ' You can get one of those and keep it where you can lay your hands upon it at any moment, and on the instant the knowledge comes to you of danger to me you must catch up that black robe, ro'l it into small compass, and hasten with it to the top of Edgar's Tower, and there wave it trom* the battlements. Let it iioat bioadly on the breeze as you can. My friends at the White Stag Inn will &cc it and know what ib means. 1 have an understanding with them to that effect. Do you undei stand ?' Yes, she undei stood; and she promised that she would not fail. 'Be sure. Sir Malcolm, if the wretch dares to molest you — if he tries to do you harm — your people at tho inn shall know.' Then, while she turned to the pursuit of the purpose for which she bad sought the place, he repaired to the apartments of Lady Blanche. He found the dear one sitting by herworktable, one of the black lobes lying in her lap, her head bent, and supported by both her hands. She looked upas he entered and greeted him with a smilr ; but it was a very faint smile, with nothing of joy or blithenecs in it. 'See,' she said, holding up the friar* gown and shaking it out. 'Do you not think me ianciful ?' i

•In what, darling ?' he asked, baking a seat by her side and laying hold upon a corner of the black robe. ' I'll tell you in what,' she went on, with something more like a smile on her lovely face than appeared a moment before. ' You know you spoke to me on your return from the village yesterday of the arrangement you had made with your old sergeant. Well, I thought one of these robe?, with the cumbersome sleeves, and the cowl, and thegathering around the nock and shouldera and at the waist, would be an awkward thing to give to the breeze ; so, do you see, I have taken one of them and from it removed thoso defects. See !' And she stood up and shook out the broad field of blackness, thus exposing a piece of cloth nearly two yards square, its surface as nearly perfect as a banner need be. Malcolm kissed her, and blessed her for her thoughtfulness. She then told him hat she had been led to the work by a premonition that it would be wanted. ' It came to me while you were away that danger surrounded us on every hand. I was not thinking ; the impression came to me of its own accord. It came to mo with a forco that startled me. Then I thought. I thought of Reynard's opportunities, of the number of armed men he has at command here, under this very roof ; and I asked myself : Why should you not have your men hero ? Of course, I understand why they aie not here, and 1 sympathise with you in the feeling which leads you to make no show of military power and authority while nominally a guest at the castle. Still, the feeling was with me that the time when the help of your men would be wanted was not far distant ; and then I thought of making it easy to call them. That is why I did this, dear Malcolm. And now tell me of your \isit to the lawyer. Tell me all about it. I shall know if you seek to hide anything.' 'Blanche,' he replied soberly, with the light of his great lo\e shining upon her from his truthful eyes, • situated as you and I are, we cannot afford to deceive or trifle. I will tell you aU, only asking you not to be unnecessarily alarmed. I do not speak now lightly, nor do I seek to give you a hope which I do not myself feel ; but I tell you, trankly and honestly, horn the very depths of my heart, that I believe kind Heaven will interfere in our behalf. I call it Hea-\en, because if help shall come, I shall feel that to Heaven we owe it. Yes —I feel it more and more. The impression has become almost a faith, and I do not be lieve my mind could be so powerfully- so mysteriously impressed if there were not something in the future that was to give it fruition. ' And now, darling, listen. ' And he went on and told her from beginning to end the story of his interview with Mr Kirkiand. She listened attentively, interrupting him but once, and that was when he had repeated what the lawyei had said with regard to the Court of Barons. ' Aye — papa was speaking of that very thing only the Sunday before he died. He was complaining of the difficulty he had experienced in getting his brother barons of Highlandshire to join with him in the work of ridding the country of the mountain robbeis. And then he spoke of the additional difficulty of obtaining a conviction, if the robber chief should chance to be a laird of the shire. He then had no thought thatßeynaid, his heir, the pi omised husband of his daughter, was the chief of the wicked band. However. I rem ember distinctly his saying that he wished the High Court of Barons could be abolished, and that we of the Highlands could be blessed with the same legal code that existed in the south. Still, he confessed that there were some things in it that he liked. One of them, I call to mind, was, that when crime was punished, it was done surely and summarily ; and there were many crimes that would meet swift l-etribution, even though the criminal were one of their own titled number.' "When Malcolm had told all he had to tell, the conversation turned upon the inevitable subject of the \\ ill ; and while they wander in the mazes of that mystic problem, we will give our attention to another conversation that was being held by another party, and in another place. It was now drawing towards the close of the day, and those who had sought their beds after the wassail of the early morning were waking up ; those who had put off their outer clothing were putting it on again ; those who were inclined to the comforts of a toilet were finding fresh water and towels ; and as they awoke and arose and dressed and performed their simple ablutions, not forgetting the generous wines and stronger liquors that had been placed within convenient reach of all — as one after another accomplished all this, the free, fresh air was the next thing sought : and thus it chanced that Reynard Bevern and the lawyer of Inverness, Will Macomber, met in the inner court, and by the time they had exchanged salutations they were joined by Sir John Kilroy and the Baion Alton - feld. ' Well met !' had been Bevern's salutation to the lawyer, and so he exclaimed again when at the expiration of a minute or little more, Jamie Lawton, the Lord of Belmondy, joined the group, thus making the number complete. Nelly Nichol, who had come down from the tower, saw them, and would have given all she possessed of material wealth could she have got near enough to hear what they said ; but she could not do it. She watched long and patiently for an opportunity, but it did not come. The fact was, the party had betaken themselves to the battlements of the outer wall, where they could overlook the grand scenery round about them, and it wis there they conversed. The sun wa3 now little more than thiee hours high, a circumstance which claimed their attention, and was spoken of, because it told them how long they had slept. 'Gentlemen,' said the host, after they had decided the hour, • I am glad we are met, for I have a question, to me of grave importance, to ask. I have told you of the young — colonel, I think he calls himself. At all events, he was truly nephew to the old baron, being son of his sister Margaret, who, you may remember, married with one of the Lowland MacGregors. Well, this young fellow has come here, with a troop of hirelings at his heels, for the purpose, he gives out, of hunting for the Free Companions of Ben Alpine ; bub, as you may readily se3 and understand, his true purpose was to get himself back, if possible, j into the good graces of his old uncle — the uncle who had discarded and disinherited him for his criminal and treacherous conduct. His attempt to shoot his benefactor I will 6ay nothing about ; but hie hypocritical pretence of love and good-will, and his sneaking, under-handed attempts to seduce the affections of his beautiful cousin, Lady Blanche, then only a child— for that 1 despised him. 1 But enough of that. Here he is ; he appears on bhe scene, and the moment he learns that his old uncle is dead he has the impudence to force his way into the castle, bringing half a dozen of his troopers with him ; and here I find him when I come. Remember he has been my rival alwftyp, trying to wrong me in the most ' wicked manner — to stab me in the tenderest part — cajoling and inveigling from me the love of my promised wife ; and yet,

my friends, for all that, I gave him my hand, and bade him welcome to Ravendale, telling him to consider himself at home as of old. • And how do you think he has repaid me? Of the matter of this trumped-up will, said to have been made by the baron's order when his breath had well nigh left his body, I will say nothing. That will be considered when we make the demand tor the true testament. But mark ttiks : At this very moment you may find him, if you will look, in my lady's chamber, putting forth his utmost exertions to wean her heart from me. And that is not the worst. Yesterday morning, before leaving my castle to come to you, I gave to my servant — one of my trustiest and most reliable — strict orders to keep a watch upon the movements of the interloper ; to keep such a watch that he would be able to lob me know, on my return, what the young gentleman had been doing. ' Well, by some moans, I know not how, lie — MacGregor — gained knowledge of the order I had given ; and what do you think he did ? Upon my soul, you will scarcely believe it. Listen.' And then he told, with bold and unblushing additions, of the forcible seizure of his servant, Duff Murtagh, by order of MacGregor, and by his men ; and hi? lodgment, without food or drink, in one of the deepest and darkest dungeons of the keep. Then, in tones of horror, ho told of the sacrilegious mockery of the ridiculous court which the young rascal had improvi&ed, and of the bringing before it of Murtagh. 1 Gentlemen, 1 cannot tell you the outrageous, abominable things those hideously disguised troopers did under the lead of MacGregor. They threatened poor Duff wi'h instant death repeatedly. They would kill him if he did not swear that he saw a new will made ; they would kill him if he would not swear that I opened the cabinet wbeie that new will was deposited, and carried it away with me. Think of it ! and 1 fifty to a hundred miles away at the time !' At this point the Lord of Belmondy cried out that they had hoard enough. ' Had 1 beon in your place the fellow would not have been now alive !' 'Aye, 1 said Reynaul, 'I was strongly tempted; and you know well that iear did not restrain me. No, - I thought ft would prejudice my cau&e. People would say I was afraid of him.' ' Egad ! you were right,' absertcd Altonfeld ; 'but you had moie iorbeaiance than I could have exercised.' 'It camo hard, 1 admit,' rejoined Reynard ; ' but I did it, nevertheless. However, I propose to bear it no longer ; and now I ask you — I ask you, Air Macomber — would I be justified in arresting this man — Malcolm MacGregor — and his armed band, and putting them under lock and key ?" ' Most assuredly you would,' was the lawyer's answer. ' According to all law and all usage, in the absence of a will absolutely dispossessing you, you are lord of the domain. Farther — the man has laid himself liable to arrest. Trespass, of the very worst and most aggravated form, would be a mild term to apply to his offence.' Then Reynard turned to the three noblemen and asked them if they would back him up — if, in their capacity as justices — or, as a court, they would sustain him. Yes— with all their hearts. The fact was, they were bitterly prejudiced against the, Lowland gentry ; and still more deeply did they dislike and distrust any officer of the king sent into their territoiy, -with an armed force, for the purpose of interfering with their prerogative. They were capable of maintaining order in Highlandshire. 'Suppose,' queried the host, 3 ' old Kirkland should insist upon MacGregor'a being present at the examination concerning the will ?' He addressed the inquiry to his attorney, who told him that would be for the court to determine. 'A^nd the court,' added Jamie Lawton, seeming to grow suddenly fatter and redder than ever, ' will determine that it don't want him I' And to that the other two r.odded hee and unqualified assent. From the battlements Reynard made his way to the eastern wing of the keep, where he had quartered his free companions, — he had not put them in the common barracks — and there he found his right-hand man, his esquire and lieutenant — Rupert Kedburn — one of the most physically powerful and boldly desperate men of the mountain band. 'Rupert— do you know where are the men of Colonel MacGregor ?' ' Yes. They are in the old ai'moury. I left them there not five minutes ago, examining the ancient armour.' ' Is the lieutenant with them ?' 'Yes.' ' Good ! Will you take a dozen of your best men, and land that whole snuad in the dungeon which Duff will point out to you ? It is the same into which they threw him.' ' I'll do it with pleasure, Captain.' ' And make no disturbance ?' 'Not a bit.' ' All right. Let it be done as speedily as possible.' ' But how about the chief ? Ho's the man I'd cage if I were in your place.' Reynard's eyes gleamed with a malevolent light, and a triumphant smile curled around his heavy lips, as he made answer : ' Leave that man to me !'