husband; and between the fingers of a little boy, to force him to discover his father. And by his orders, the soldiers blew furiously on the lighted matches until,-Oh! horrible, one of the fingers of the miserable sufferer, a woman,had actually dropped off! A thrill of horror went over our spirits. But the sudden exclamation came frae an elegant and witty Countess, that," they are only whigs, after a,'-puir vulgar creatures, a' beneath the notice o' us, or oor pity,"—and,-I dare say the active and enterprising servants o' his Majesty, only did their duty." Instantly, and as if by a wizard's rod, every emotion of pity, and sympathy was laid to rest. And the half-formed exclamation of pain, and regret died away on our tongues, For me, I would not have lifted up my pleading voice for the MARTYRS-for a thousand worlds! I was ashamed to name even the whigs: It was perfectly vulgar: I was almost driven forward, with the rest of the worshippers o' the Countess, to applaud the military butcher, Colonel Graham of Claverhouse, as an active, and enterprising officer of his Majesty's government.-Yes! and, Master James, I fear for thee, thou art only in soft and yielding seventeen. Look thou on thy reverend father, there,—and on mine: and say, canst thou,-wilt thou stand up by their side; and own, with the decision o' a true Scot, the cause of God, and thy Kintry? I know thou wilt. Helen Wardlaw will, this day, be able to add thy name to the long list o' noble and pious youth, whose hearts beat leal to their Kintry, and the gude auld cause!" Master James threw himself at her feet, and seizing her hand, kissed it with enthusiasm, as he exclaimed: "Helen Wardlaw, thou hast fixed my resolution for ever! The God o' my father, and my mother, who is the God o' oor fathers and oor deeply injured kintry, I wull ne'er forsake! So help me God! And, father Cargil, may High Heaven, this day, record my oath in the register o' eternity, I sall ne'er return frae followin' after you. Whither you go, I wull go your people shall be my people: and your God, my God!" "Amen!" cried the beautiful maiden, as the clear teardrops of joy, pure as angel's joy, rolled over her cheeks, and fell sparkling among the rows of pearlins and diamonds on her white bosom. "My child!" cried father Cargil, "thy words hae sent ower my soul, the sweetest joys I hae tasted in the days o' my sorrow!" He paused for a moment in deep silence: a dark cloud passed over his spirit: tears gushed from his eyes, and dropt from his long white beard upon his lap: but the cloud soon vanished away. "Yes!" he added in a low whisper, "I see the coming event it is the hour, and power o' darkness: short, but sharp! And be HIS haly wull dune. In the day o' my fall, and when the standard-bearers shall faint, thy young arm, my bonny son, wull bear up the fallen ensign! And my God wull be thy God in that hoor; and my people,-sad and melancholy though the remnant be, wull be thy people. In the blossom o' thy early days, thou shalt sleep by my side oor bairns' bairns wull visit oor graves, and they wull name oor names, and bless oor memory! And in yon bright warld, the while, where nae man o' blude and treason embrues his hauns in the blude o' the martyred saunts, or mangles wi' his greedy steel, their pitiable remains, there, Master James, I sall welcome thee to the croon o' martyrdom!-and at a far remoter period shall we welcome to her croon, and her sister seraphs, oor bonny Helen Wardlaw, after she has lang ministered to the patriots, and seen Scotland's bricht day o' salvation. But noo hear me" Before Cargil had finished his sentence, the front-door of the Bailey's house was suddenly burst open, and a number of his friends rushed in. Among them were the two Hamiltons, Burleigh Stewart, the young lords Kardross, Semple, Mauchlin, and Annandale driving up the rear. 407B CHAPTER XI. Leather awa' wi' yer oak stick, Down wi' the Tory, and up wi' the Whig, OLD BALLAD OF AVENDALE. "Are you here," father Cargil? "exclaimed Burleigh, and Sir Robert Hamilton at once,-"save him, save him, fair Helen! We are pursued: the Life Guards are on our track; and like rampaging lions, they wull pounce on their prey! To horse! To horse! and away!" In an instant all was confusion. Some cried one thing, and some another. The Bailey and Cargil alone stood unmoved, in the middle of the floor, like other old men, whose blood is cool: and who wait the issue, with feelings very different from those of the young and fiery. Helen's whole anxiety was about her father and Cargil: and they, on the contrary, were concerned only for Helen, and their beloved young friends, brought into such peril for their sakes. Master James reconnoitred. He perceived that a crowd of people had thrown themselves in front of the guards, and were impeding their march on the Bailey's house; while fierce and threatening voices gave the military notice, "that if they dared to harm their gude auld Bailey, or his angel daughter, they would tear them into spawls, and scatter them lik peelins o' ingens!" He perceived, therefore, that they could not reach the house for some time. He instantly called Burleigh Stewart and Helen, and stated to them his plan: Helen immediately summoned her man Sanders Elshender, and assured James that he might put perfect confidence in him. 66 Sanders," cried he, "You can save your honoured master, and the fair Helen, if you will do as I bid you, instanter. Make the best o' yer way through that crowd,they're all friens to the Bailey, and through thae Life Guards. Hie thee, to the sign o' the Hart, or if not there, to the Bull's head; find oot young Drum mond,―tell him in ae word, Sanders, that bonny Helen Wardlaw, and his dutiful Tutor, are in distress, and wad be unco glad o' his presence, a few brief moments!" Master James having despatched Sanders, mingled in. the crowd, and besought the leading men to contrive to keep the guards in play, for a few moments; then hurried back into the house. The military approached with drawn swords; and when they reached the front of the house, they halted amid the populace, and formed in close line, in the middle of the street. And as the bugle sounded the note of assault, they forced their way through the crowd, with sword in hand. The multitude, headed by some desperate men, threw themselves, in a dense column, before them, threatening to effect by numbers, what the lack of arms prevented them from easily doing in an instant. The soldiers were ordered to clear their way: and they began to slap the cheeks, and shoulders of the rustic heaps, which impeded their march and now and then they gave a cut and prick with their shabbles. This was more than Glasgow Scotsmen could endure. They returned, with more courage than prudence, these military salutations; and lent some well-directed kicks with their huge steel-armed shoes; as they cried,-"tak that belly-fu', ye Southron pockpuddins !" From less to more, they came, one and all of them, to heavy blows. The butcher lads, and green aproned men tumbled down, more frightened than hurt, under the blauds of the long swords, while the vigorous party of the Life Guards dashed the populace aside. Such was the terror also of the naked gleaming swords, that none ventured to offer any serious resistance. And the soldiers, at last, marched, two and two abreast, into the Bailey's house. The Bailey presented himself in front of them; while our gallant young men threw themselves around Helen and Cargil, each with his hand on the hilt of his sword. What want you? whom seek you, in my hoose, soldiers?" cried the Bailey. The officer minded not the question put to him, but cast his eyes fiercely around the group, in front of him, as the hawk does on the covey fresh sprung, while he muttered thro' his teeth; "'Ere we 'ave ha ole conventicle, by St. George! has hever there was hin the Heast, hor West hend hof Hengland !" "Whom seek ye, Sir Caitiff! I hae been speerin' at ye," repeated the Bailey. "Knowest thou not, that thou art in the house of a Glasgow Bailey,-ane o' the four Bailey's o' the Cooncil o' this gude and godly city? Hoo daur ye assail people in their ain domicil? Pit doon yer bit shachlin spear, or I'll make it spin ower yer head in a giffy! Hae ye a warrant, duly signed, and delivered by the hauns o' some beadle, or some heigher power, that ye daur tak on ye, at this gaite? Ken ye no a man's richts in his ain hoosehold, whilk, if ye war'na a puir ignorant Southron,- -a Londoner, I hear, for ye canna speak yer ain vernacular tu ony decent purpose, ye micht hae kenned, was a man's kingdom, sacred, by law, frae a' intrusions, butt permission, asked and gi'en, to hae ingress, and egress, and regress. Noo-" "Soldiers!" cried the officer," the loons hare before you: seize the two hold men, and hall the hothers, saving the lady honly." "Hark ye stir anither foot, by way Sir Cateran! if ye, o' violent ingress, I sall convene ye, and ilka soul o' ye soldiers, in ane action o' trespass and damages; and ye sall be clapt by the heels in bilbow, as reivers, and trespass maukers!" The soldiers now made a desperate rush to execute their orders; but not before the more rapid movement of our young gallants; who hurried the Bailey by the side of Helen and Cargil, into their rear; and showed their battle blades. The soldiers made a momentary pause at this unexpected movement: for they had conjectured that they were already terrified into a surrender: and the Bailey's harangue, which they could not comprehend, had strengthened them in the supposition. "Stand firm, my gallants!" cried Sir Robert Hamilton: and they immediately closed with the soldiers and Helen and the aged pastor shuddered at the clashing of the swords, and the obstreperous tumult that followed. At this crisis, young Drummond with his attendants arrived. He leapt through the crowd, into the middle of |