St. Ives: Being the Adventures of a French Prisoner in England

ld cover the around at a good rate when he wanted to. Each looked at the other: I with natural curiosity, he with a great appearance of distast

r England, ar

d him

ly; and he relapsed into a silence which was not br

midst and made a succession of clear pools; near by the lowest of which I was aware of a drove of shaggy cattle, and a man who seemed the ve

ough with us,' said Sim. 'It was th

y, remembering his manners, and looking on m

him, and asked

somely slow. In the midst my two conductors marched in a contented silence that I could not but admire. The more I looked at them, the more I was impressed by their absurd resemblance to each other. They were dressed in the same coarse homespun, carried similar sticks, were equally begrimed about the nose with snuff, and each wound in an identical plaid of what is called the shepherd's tartan. In a back view they might be described as indistinguishable; and even from the front they were much alike. An incredible coincidence of humours augmented the impression.

y into a desert vale, about a league in length, and closed at the farther end by no less barren

'here we're at th

en, sure eneuch,

are ye dry?'

I, 'is not this Sa

?' said he. 'I'm o

o drink,' said I, 'I am

, held up the bottle in his right, remarked with emphasis, 'Here's to ye!' and swallowed as much of the spirit as his fancy prompted. This little ceremony, which was the nearest thing to manners I could perceive in either of my companions, was repeated at becoming intervals, generally af

here and there, the ruins of ancient and inconsiderable fortresses-made the unchanging characters of the scene. Occasionally, but only in the distance, we could perceive the smoke of a small town or of an isolated farmhouse or cottage on the moors; more often, a flock of sheep and its attendant shepherd, or a rude field of agriculture perhaps not yet harvested. With these alleviations, we might almost be said to pass through an unbroken desert-sure, one of the most impoverished in Europe; and when I re

ly gentleman, a little grizzled, and of a rugged but cheerful and engaging countenance. He sat on a hill pony, wrapped in a plaid over his green coat, and was accompanied by a horse-woman, his daughter, a young lady of the most charming appearance. They overtook us on a stretch of heath, reined up as they came alongside, and accompanied us for perhaps a quarter of an hour before they galloped off again across the hillsides to our left. Great was my amazement to find the unconquerable Mr. S

drover ye have gotten there?' th

entleman that had a reason o

the law, you know, and tace is the Latin for a candle,

it was no m

o myself, 'Well, sir,' he added, 'I understand you are taking

; 'and I must say I am

one, he told me for an example a story of its earlier inhabitants. Years after it chanced that I was one day diverting myself with a Waverley Novel, when what should I come upon but the identical narrative of my green-coated gentleman upon the moors! In a moment the scene, the tones of his voice, his northern accent, and the very aspect of the earth and sky and temperature of the weather, f

with his daughter over the hills. And when I applied to Sim for information, his a

when we at last perceived, drawing near to the drove road, but still at a distance of about half a league, a second caravan, similar to but larger than our own. The liveliest excitement was at once exhibited by both my comrades. They climbed hillocks, they studied t

was Sim's em

the position. It seems that they had recognised two of our neighbours on the road-one Faa, and another by the name of Gillies. Whether there was an old feud between them still unsettled I could never learn; but Sim and Candlish were prepared f

oon'rel a fair clout wi' it,' he said. 'The

give a very good account of them.' And I made my piece of holly, Ron

ired Sim, with a gleam of appr

outlaw, an old soldier and a young man in the bargain, to take adventure easily. With no idea as to the rights of the quarrel or the probable consequences of the encounter, I was as ready to take part with my two drovers, as ever to fall in line on the morning of a battle. Presently there leaped three men out of the heather; we had scarce time to get to our feet before we were assailed; and in a moment each one of us was engaged with an adversa

ort of war to be not wholly without laws of chivalry, and perhaps rather to partake of the character of a tournament than of a battle à outrance. There was no doubt, at least, that I was supposed to have pushed the affair too s

Faa's unco bad

other, 'he look

at,' said

silence fell u

me. 'Ye're unco ready

. 'I am afraid Mr. Faa (if that

dnae wonder,'

ikely to happe

have had a broken leg or maybe twa; and the like of that we drover bodies make a kind of a practice like to keep among oursel's. But a corp we have none of us ever had to deal with, and I could set nae leemit to what G

fac',' sai

, 'the best will be to get across the border and there separate. If you are troubled, you can very tru

ony kinds o' gentry ere now; I hae seen o' them that was the tae thing, and I hae seen o' them that

rs of the west. It seems absurd to mention love in connection with so ugly and snuffy a couple; at least, their trust was absolute; and they entertained a surprising admiration for each other's qualities; Candlish exclaiming that Sim was 'grand company!' and Sim frequently assuring me in an aside that for 'a rale, auld, stench bitch, there was nae the bate of Candlish in braid Scotland.' The two dogs appeared to be entirely included in this family compact, and I remarked that their exploits and traits of character were constantly and minutely observed by the two masters. Dog stories particularly abounded with them; and not only the dogs of the present but those of the past contributed their quota. 'But that was naething,' Sim would begin: 'there was a herd in Manar, they ca'd him Tweedie-ye'll mind Tweedie, Can'lish?' 'Fine, that!' said Candlish. 'Aweel, Tweedie had a dog-' The story I have forgotten; I dare say it was dull, an

separate, there had grown up a certain familiarity and mutual esteem that made the parting harder. It took place about four of the after

g,' repl

'You have led me, you have fed me, you have filled

entit for that

peated; 'what do

andlish and me and the auld wife, Gilchrist. You had naething

laced in no such ridiculous position. Mrs. Gilchri

t way ye're gaun to help

ou here and

o a bargain, Mr. S

you will not ta

e it to. Ye're young, Mr. St. Ivy, and thoughtless; but it's my belief that, wi' care and circumspection, ye ma

his rebuke, and bidding the pair farew

ta'en up in Englishry; but I think that I really ought to say