CHAPTER XLI.
A HAMILTON! A HAMILTON!
"Oh, stay at home, my only son,
Oh, stay at home with me!
For secretly I am forewarned
Of ills awaiting thee!
Last night I heard the deid bell sound,
When all were fast asleep;
And aye it rung, and aye it sung,
Till all my flesh did creep."
THE ETTRICK SHEPHERD.
Unobserved, they reached the verge of the beach, and were about to descend, when Sabrino suddenly grasped the arm of the earl.
He turned.
The negro had his poniard in his right hand, and placed a finger of his left on his lips, in token of silence; there was a savage gleam in his shining eyes.
"Well, Sabrino, what dost thou see now?"
Sabrino pointed, and, a few yards below, the earl saw a man, having in his hand a drawn sword, which glittered in the moonlight. That he was a gentleman was evident by his dress—a plum-coloured doublet, orange hose, a blue velvet mantle, and waving feather. He was ascending straight from the little creek, where the boat was moored to a fragment of rock, and had, beyond a doubt, discovered it.
"My lord!" said Sybil, breathlessly; "'tis Sir James of Barncleugh himself."
"Oho! I have not met this worthy laird since we broke the pikemen of Arran at Linlithgow brig. He owes me more than one sword cut; and I do not like debtors of that kind."