of her fidelity towards her guest. It was obvious that she wished to engage the ruffians in their debauch, to prevent the discovery which might take place, if, by accident, any one of them should approach too nearly the place of Brown's conceal ment. CHAPTER VII. Nor board nor garner own we now, Uprouse ye then, my merry men! JOANNA BAILLIE. BROWN could now reckon his foesthey were five in number. Two of them were very powerful men, who appeared to be either real seamen, or strollers who assumed that character; the other three, an old man and two lads, were slighter made, and from their black hair and dark complexion, seemed to belong to Meg's tribe. They passed from one to another the cup out of which they drank 66 a their spirits." Here's to his good voyage!" said one of the seamen, drinking; squally night he's got, however, to drift through the sky in." We omit here various execrations with which these honest gentlemen garnished their discourse, retaining only such of their expletives as are least offensive. "'A does not mind wind and weather'A has had many a north-easter in his day." "He had his last yesterday," said another gruffly," and now old Meg may pray for his last fair wind, as she's often done before." "I'll pray for nane o' him," said Meg, "nor for you neither, you randy dog. The times are sair altered since I was a kinchin-mort. Men were men then, and fought other in the open field, and there was nae milling in the darkmans. And the gentry had kind hearts, and would have given baith lap and pannel to ony poor gypsey; and there was not one, from Johnnie Faa the upright man, to little Christie that was in the panniers, would cloyed a dud from them. But ye are a' altered from the gude auld rules, and no wonder that you scour the cramp-ring, and trine to the cheat sae often. Yes, ye are a' altered-you'll eat the goodman's meat, drink his drink, sleep on the strammel in his barn, and break his house and cut his throat for his pains! There's blood on your hands too, ye dogs-mair than ever came there by fair fighting. See how ye'll die then-lang it was ere he died-he strove, and strove sair, and could neither die nor live;-but you-half the country will see how ye'll grace the woodie." The party set up a hoarse laugh at Meg's prophecy. "What made you come back here?" said one of the gypsies, "ye auld beldam? could ye not have staid where you were, and spaed fortunes to the Cumberland flats?-Bing out and tour, ye auld devil, and see that nobody has scented; that's a' you're good for now." Is that a' I am good for now? I was good for mair than that in the great fight between our folk and Patrico Salmon's; if I had not helped you with these very fambles, (holding up her hands,) Jean Baillie would have frummagem'd you, ye feckless do-little!" € There was here another laugh at the expence of the hero who had received this amazon's assistance. "Here, mother," said one of the sailors, "here's a cup of the right for you, and never mind that bully-huff." Meg drank the spirits, and, withdrawing herself from farther conversation, sate down before the spot where Brown lay hid, in such a posture that it would have been difficult for any one to have approached it without her rising. The men, however, shewed no disposition to disturb her. They closed around the fire, and held deep consultation together; but the low tone in which they spoke, and the canting language which they used, prevented |