"Oh! if possible, avoid him."
"My dear Sybil!——"
"Death will come of it!"
"A little prick with a poniard will do him no harm."
"But while you fight, his people will come upon us. Now, dear Archibald, pray——"
"I am not in the sweetest of tempers just now: and—soho! thou Hamilton! clear the pathway, or I will trounce thee soundly."
"Who are you?" asked Sir James, standing on his guard, right in the centre of the path that led to the boat; "and what seek you here, sirrah?—stand and answer."
"I sought Sybil Douglas, Sir James."
"What do I hear—the Earl of Ashkirk! Now, by the soul of Arran! thou leavest not this island but in a coffin. Pardon me, my young lady of Kilspindie," said the old governor, courteously raising his blue velvet bonnet to Sybil; "pardon me, but this rash gallant must pay the penalty of coming uninvited here. Hallo! a Hamilton! a Hamilton!"
"Dishonour dog your heels, base Barncleugh! and may that accursed slogan never be heard but in shame and defeat!" exclaimed the earl, infuriated to find him thus crying aloud to summon his men, who were scattered over the island, and many of whom were visible in the moonlight, and not far off. "To the boat, Sybil, and leave me to deal with this rough tilter! To the boat; see to it, Sabrino. Sir James Hamilton, I have fought fifteen times, and three of my adversaries are dead; thou shalt make the sixteenth combatant I have encountered, and the fourth I shall have slain; and, as God be my judge, unwillingly. Come on!"