Let every one, therefore, who has any real love for his fellows, and who feels that he or she has the nerve requisite for the work—for this is a sine quâ non—at once learn how to act in cases of sudden accident, illness, faintness, drowning, or any other of the many unlooked-for ills and mishaps that ‘flesh is heir to’—a species of knowledge that will improve the mind of the possessor, and may be productive of infinite good.
THE LAST OF THE STUARTS.
A MODERN ROMANCE.
III.—KING CHARLES III.
There were great preparations at Balquhalloch Castle for the worthy reception of the king; and but for the fact that the editor, who was also the sole reporter, of the Aberdumble Warder was at the time confined to his house from indisposition, the whole matter would no doubt have found its way into the papers. The Princess spared neither trouble nor expense. Two Aberdumble carpenters arrived, and erected opposite the porter’s lodge a wooden triumphal arch. An Aberdumble painter followed after them, and inscribed upon the arch, in large red letters on a blue ground, a legend welcoming His Majesty to his own again. And when the painter had departed, the Princess, accompanied by Tom Checkstone and Father M‘Fillan, drove into Aberdumble and hired all the flags in the town. She also subsidised the local brass band, the members of which she instructed to be at the castle at a given hour, prepared to play at her behest the stirring strains of Who’ll be King but Charlie, and as many other Jacobite tunes as they knew or could learn meanwhile; and she further engaged four pipers, who were to stand just within the castle gate and salute her royal nephew in their most tremendous style. It must be confessed that the Princess was a trifle indiscreet. She undoubtedly laid herself open to a prosecution for treason-felony, if not indeed for treason of the highest and most deadly type; but fortunately for her, the Aberdumble people had grown accustomed to her eccentricities, and not a soul dreamt of gainsaying her will and pleasure in the matter. She therefore returned with a carriage-load of flags, which she caused to be festooned from the battlements. In her own boudoir and with her own fingers, she had long since worked in silk a faithful copy of the old royal standard of Scotland, and this she ordered to be run up on the flagstaff that surmounted the keep, whenever the king should set foot within the castle walls. Furthermore, she directed that at that auspicious moment her head-butler, assisted by one of her stable-boys, should begin the firing of a royal salute from an old brass gun that stood upon the western wall; and in order to provide for this, she purchased in Aberdumble, Archie M‘Pherson the ironmonger’s entire stock of sporting-powder.
Betimes there came a telegram for the Princess. ‘Shall be with you,’ it ran, ‘at noon to-morrow;’ and it had been despatched by Charlie from the telegraph office in Fleet Street, London.
The Princess passed the night in a state of the utmost excitement. Instead of retiring to rest, she paced to and fro until daylight began to dawn; and it was only at Tom’s urgent entreaty that she then consented to repair to her boudoir and lie down for a few hours. She had talked of attempting to raise the country side, and of going to the railway station at the head of her kilted and armed retainers, to welcome her nephew; but Father M‘Fillan’s more sensible counsel prevailed. He pointed out that nothing could be gained by undue haste, and that any ill-advised display of force would probably end in the speedy collapse of the movement long ere it could ripen and bear good fruit. The fact is that, but for the common-sense of the chaplain, the Princess would have done a thousand rash deeds. Fortunately, he had constituted himself her temporal as well as spiritual adviser; and being a man of extraordinary kindness and goodness, he had easily won the Princess’s confidence. He regarded her as a harmless maniac, and believed that there would be no danger in humouring her within due bounds; nor did he conceal his opinions from Tom Checkstone, who, while professing to coincide with them, fully made up his mind to carry on the game until it should bring some decided advantage to himself and his friend Charles Stuart.
The Princess, accompanied by Father M‘Fillan, and by Tom, who rode, drove to Aberdumble Station without the retinue of armed tenants; and, punctual to the appointed hour, the king’s train arrived. The Princess would have respectfully kissed His Majesty’s hand; but Charlie, with right royal condescension, embraced his aunt and kissed her upon both cheeks. Then, having graciously shaken hands with Tom and the priest, he entered the carriage, which was driven rapidly back to Balquhalloch. A few children followed it for a short distance, but they were soon left behind, and it was not until the castle was well in sight that any further signs of excitement and expectation became visible.
The first loyal greeting came from Daft Andy M‘Gregor, an old fellow of eighty-seven. He had heard from his grandfather of the great doings of the ’45; and fully believing that patriotism required it of him, he stood at his cottage door waving a rusty claymore, and flang his bonnet into the air as the carriage rolled quickly by. A more formal welcome awaited the king at the gateway of the castle. The porter’s eldest son, in his Sunday clothes, walked gravely forward, bearing on a cushion the castle keys, and, with profound obeisance, presented them to Charlie, who as gravely received them and gave them into Tom’s custody. At that moment the four pipers struck up; and the carriage, as it passed through the gateway, was saluted by a boom from the old brass gun. Tears stood in the Princess’s eyes, as, giving her hand to Father M‘Fillan, she alighted. ‘Thank heaven for this day!’ she exclaimed devoutly; while in a louder voice she added: ‘God save the king!’
The cry was taken up by all the servants and tenants who had collected in the courtyard, and was accentuated by a second boom from the brass gun. Thus acclaimed, the king, supported by Tom, walked into the great hall, and was thence conducted by the Princess herself to his private apartments.