ORIGINAL TALE.

Tuapeka Times, Volume I, Issue 38, 31 October 1868, Page 6

ORIGINAL TALE.

THE FATAL YO¥.

It was while sailing on one of the most beautiful lakes in Scotland I heard the iblipfrinlT; legend: "~The_ scene was of that kind which neither tho pen o^the poet nor -the- brush of the painter can do full justice to. The broad expanse of -dimpled glittering in a thousand diamond points. The sombre pines and tho graceful birches by its edge, and the low, brown moorland up iff the back ground, here and there he- ! gemmed with the shining waters of some lonely tarn, all formed a "picture which, once seen, could not fail to be ever rememberod. Throughouta long "ynmmer day I had waged successful war against tho finny tribe ; and now, when the setting sun- was beginning to tint the snow-clad summits of the distant mountains with a roseate hue, the sturdy boatmen were rowing me hack to my little rural retreat. . -vAs we passed a small island on which a grey and moss-covered cairn showed some deed of blood had been perpetrated, I observed the rowers pause on their oars, and solemnly uncovering, mutter some words in Gaelic. Inquiry led to one of the number narrating the following legend : —

In the seventeenth century, the Lord of Brahan was cne of the most powerful chieftans in the north of Scotland, his lands, which extended from the German Sea to the Atlantic Ocean, being tenanted by devoted and warlike vassals. One after another of the smaller septs had owned his sway, and the trained soldiery of King Charles had fled before the fierce .valour of his mountaineers. Vast herds of black cattle, the fruit of many a successful creagb, made him as wealthy as he was powerful. It is not to be wondered then that -arrogance should form a prominent feature in his character.' His only son and heir, the Master, as he was called, differed in every respect from his father. Neglected in early youth for the- sake of ambitious projects, his education had been supplied by the family chaplain, a bigotted and illiterate Catholic priest. The result was to give" his mind a morbid and gloomy cast, and to utterly unfit him for the leadershipof a gallant and warlike clan. His father often ridiculed his penances and continual prayers, declaring a warrior's best prayer was- ft lusty stroke of the claymore, his best absolution, death on the field of victory. Spiritless and dejected as the master seemed, the spirit of his race flamed out when his fanatisism was ridiculed, and a bitter quarrel between father and son was the result. The master wandered about the mountain?, refusing all- aid from his father, and subsisting on the salmon from the river, and the dun deer from the hill. During one of his long excursions he sought that' hospitality which the Gael never refuses to friend or foe, in the lowly sheiling of a vassal of his father's, named Ewen MaeCombich. The daughter of Mac--Combicb. welcomed the tired wanderer,, and attended to his wants. That day passed, and others followed, but still the master af Brahan remained an ' inmate of the peasant's hut. A>.new revelation bad dawned upon the mind of the ascetic — _ • . .- !' Love took up the glass of time, turned it in 1 ' his glowing hands, Every moment, lightly shaken, ran itself in golden sands." - , His suit prospered, and a travelling priest united the fair Ellen, the flower of Strathvar, and the son of he%chieftan. -For a time all- was happiness ; the cloud was dispersed from the young husband's brow, and life seemed to promise , a brighter fate' than ' the monastic cloister. But alth ought the L 3rd. of Brahan had apparently forgotten his heir, his spies were on his track. The anger of the haughty o\6. man knew no limit when he heard, 6fthe pollution of his blood by a marriage with the daughter of a serf. On the same night the chief and his hen3hman started on a secret expedition. Meanwhile, happiness and comfort dwelt in the cottage of the peasant. The gloom was driven" from the young master's mind by human sympathy and affection, and the produce of his daily hunting sufiiced for their daily wants. One evening when he returned, ' lie fouud the happy .home a heap; of blackened ruins, and the body of his murdered wife stretched across the threshold. Despair for a time drowned every other feeling ; but in time the man arose, resolved on vengeance. By the side 'of the bleeding corpse he knelt down and vowed, by the most sacred names, an awful and remorseloss vengeance I .' 'As he rose to his feet; the weapon which had -dealt the fatal L'low caught Ms,. eye, still sticking in the wound. He drew it out at once, and recognised the dirk of bis father. At once a thousand feelings struggled for the mastery, in his mind * .each of the scanty kindnesses the ' Lord of Brahan had bestowed upon his son were remembered with a, gush of ten : derness. The pony which had been the pride of his childhood, the caress on the- return ilFftm f forajv or fr^oat fray, the pride expressed- ja - His teat's of hunting skill— alt these rushed into his mind. But the malting mood was Tfrot of long: dur^ti^n ;„,;» fair -young fiwe rose betwee^Jiimlaid the recollections of childhood ; a fair young forni', iaTUtflbsd *el>p*BnJk, w eeqie^to call out for vengeance, The religious feelings which Had for^a time laii dor--

*naht^ revived" with double~iorce, and" ! the .awful consequences ' of ' a broken oath wox*e presented to his mind with startling- vividness. Nature, ever merciful in apportioning the burden' to its bearer, relieved him from his agony J)y blinding the light of reason, and "sending him forth -an idiot, happy among unrealities of his own creation. The body of his murdered wife ho carried to an island in tho lake, and in accordance with the custom of the G-ael, piled a cairn over her remains. Then lie disappeared from tho district, and was supposed by all to have dc--stroyod himself, in a paroxysm of grief.

Ten years passed. King Charles had fallen on the scaffold, and the Parliament had been dispersed by the pikes of tho soldiery, and now tho Lord Protector ruled all England. But Scotland had returned to her allegiance to the House of Stuart, and the lion was in the toils,', hemmed round by the army of the skilful Leslie, and seemingly reduced to extremities. It would be irksome to relate here the story of the field of Dunbar ; how lowland spear and highland targe went down before the Ironsides of Cromwell. . Foremost in the onslaught Avas the eagle plume of the Lord of Brahan, as he led the children of his tribe against the foemen. Terrific was the shock with which they rushed upon the pikemen, and for a time there was a mortal struggle foot to foot, and hand to hand. But discipline and superior weapons prevailed ; not until, however, the flower of the clan lay stretched by the side of their -chieftain. Night foil, and the tranquil moon shone upon the .field of combat — silent now, save where the groans of some unhappy sufferer broke the stillness. One strange, grotesque figure might be seen moving among the heaps of slain. Suddenly, with a cry, he sprang upon a wounded warrior, whose glittering ornaments denoted the rank of chief. Father and son had met at last. "What passed no human eye beheld ; but next morning •a burying party found the dead bodies of the Lord of Brahan and his son fixed in a death grapple. . No nionu- . mental stone points out the. tomb where both were laid; but their wild wailings are borne from the land of spirits'across the moorland, and terri- J fy the traveller in the wilds of i Brahan and Strathvar.

A High Style. — Coming in to court one day, Erskine perceived the ankle of Mr. Balfour, who generallyex pressed himself in a very eire umlocutory manner, tied up with a silk handkerchief. " Why, what's the matter?" said he. "I was taking a romantic ramble in my brother's grounds, when, coming' to a gate, I had to climb over it, by which I came in contact with the first bar, and-grazed the epidermis of my leg, which has caused a slight extravasation of blood." "You may thank your lucky stars," replied Erskine " that your brother's gate was not as lofty as your style, or you must have broken your neck !" Street Scene,— (A - Duologue). — Smart. — Hoav do, Smooth ? (to theatrical manager, who frowns upon him — What's thf matter, eh ? Smooth. — Matter-? Hang it, Smart, you wrote me down in the "Stinger." Smart (repressing something Shakspearian. about " wi-ifcing down" which occurs to him, continues pleasantly). — Wrote you down ? No. I said the piece was a bad one, because I thought it was; averybadoue. Smooth. — Bad! (Sarcastically) .—You were- the only man who said so. Smart (very pleasantly). — My dear fellow, I was the only ina.n who saw it. Good-bye. [Exeunt severally.] — London'' Punch." The. i Elections for State Officers in Vermont, on the lst> resulted in a majority for Republican candidates of about 23,000 votes. The Exchange Hotel at Saratoga, was destroyed by > Jire on Monday last. The president has issued a proclamation .ratifying, the Treaty of Commerce with Nicaragua. The right of transit across Nicaragua from ocean to ocean is granted, and a free port' is to be established at each end of the. route,- at which no tonnage or other, duties are to be imposed on United States vessels. The Democratic StatejDonvantion at Albany, on the 2nd instant, nominated for Governor, John T., Hoffman; and for Lieutenant-Go-vernor, Allen C. Beach. The Massachussets Democratic State Convention nominated John Quincy Adams for Governor, and Reuben Noble for Lieuten'a'nt-G-overnor.

, A .serious riot occurred at' Hamptown, Virginia, on Saturday last. Nearly '40.0 rioted through the streets, armed with bricks and •stones, and several white persons were severely handled. "• Negroes in the Gteorgia lisgislature'have been declared ineligible to membership, and have been denied seats under this decision.. Accounts of continued Indian outrages are recived. A train was. captured at/ Pawnee Fork, on the Santa FeY on tao 1 23th ultimo, and." sixteen Mexicans were^ killed, scalped, and^ burned. Another train' was defended' until the ammunition of ''^ie, party gave- out, .when i£ w^ts abandoned to the savages! ' A large force of Cheyennos is' reported orittfaß.'Unijon paoifi&JiwlrQadr between North Prat uadj Jiilesbttrg; &, r ,_ : ! A reaper in a barter; fieid. near JRipI on lit his pipe^in^fr^eW^iMl^hrew^ the lighjj.ujM^^aa ffißOjyjd, , cpnflagra.spn ) ms^ Nausea %lrrch< in^tiie destruction of over two acres of '|;he standing crop,