"He keeps an unco cauld house this carl," said Tam, when they were left by themselves: "I fancy he'll ken brawly he'll hae ane bien eneugh at the hinder-end, and downa bide to see fire in this!"
"He brings me a-mind o' daft Jock Amos i' the Goosegreen," said Gibbie,—"wha never durst lie down on a bed because his mother died on ane. Whenever he saw a bed wi' white sheets on it he fell a-trembling, and ran to the gate."
CHAP. III.
Goe fetche mee lofe of your wheitan breide
And ane other coppe of wyne;
For drynke I quhile myne doublet ryve,
For drynke I moste repine.
I fele not corauge in myne herte,
Nor mychte into myne honde,
If there is nott wytchcrafte forth abrode,
There neuir was crafte in londe.
The morning had by this time dawned on the gray hills of the forest, and that with an aspect gloomy and foreboding. The white snowy clouds had crept down into the bosoms of the hills; and above these clouds were here and there to be seen the top of a mountain crested with its dark cairn, so that the heavens and the earth seemed to be mingled together.
"Gude sauf us!" cried Charlie, as he peeped out at his small crannied window, "but this is a grim, gousty-looking morning! I wish the prince o' the air be nae fa'en a brewing some o' his hellish storms and hairikens on us. If there be spirits moving about on thae hills to-day, they can be nae good anes, ye may see by their look out. Sant Mary be with us! see their drumly heads appear to be raised to double their ordinary height."
"Be not thou afraid, my son, of the prince of the power of the air, for there is one that is greater than he," said the friar; "and though the fiends may for a while muster their fogs, and foment the air with storms, yet will he send forth his angels and scatter them; yea, he will send them forth riding on the whirlwind, and the clouds of heaven shall be their chariots, and the powers of darkness shall fly in dismay before them."
The friar stepped forward to the window, and gazed for a minute in breathless astonishment; then turning away, he added in a solemn tone, "Verily, my children, I am afraid to look at the face of the sky, or to behold the hues that are abroad on the firmament this day, though my strength be the munition of rocks."
The steward now appeared with his rod of office in his hand, and, with all due ceremony, marshalled his guests up the great stair, and finally up a small winding stair, to an apartment at the very top of the upmost tower, above all the turrets and paved battlements. This room was in a blaze of light with flaming torches all around; and (joyful sight to our precious embassy!) the table was covered with rich viands in great abundance. The friar, having got short of breath in his ascent, lagged considerably behind, while the foremost rushing in, every one began to help himself with the greatest avidity; so that, when the friar at length came puffing into the apartment, all the rest had begun without grace. The seat at the foot of the table was still unoccupied; and before that there stood a beautiful smoking sirloin of beef, with a gentle brown crust around it, and half swimming in gravy. Never was there a more delicious sight presented to a hungry man.