"I crave your pardon,sir,"said Dalgetty,"such is not the rule of our foreign service in respect I remember the regiment of Finland cuirassiers reprimanded,and their kettle-drums taken from them,by the immortal Gustavus,because they had assumed the permission to march without their corslets,and to leave them with the baggage.Neither did they strike kettle-drums again at the head of that famous regiment until they behaved themselves so notably at the field of Leipsic;a lesson whilk is not to be forgotten,any more than that exclamation of the immortal Gustavus,'Now shall I know if my officers love me,by their putting on their armour;since,if my officers are slain,who shall lead my soldiers into victory?'Nevertheless,friend Ranald,this is without prejudice to my being rid of these somewhat heavy boots,providing I can obtain any other succedaneum;for I presume not to say that my bare soles are fortified so as to endure the flints and thorns,as seems to be the case with your followers."
To rid the Captain of his cumbrous greaves,and case his feet in a pair of brogues made out of deerskin,which a Highlander stripped off for his accommodation,was the work of a minute,and Dalgetty found himself much lightened by the exchange.He was in the act of recommending to Ranald MacEagh,to send two or three of his followers a little lower to reconnoitre the pass,and,at the same time,somewhat to extend his front,placing two detached archers at each flank by way of posts of observation,when the near cry of the hound apprised them that the pursuers were at the bottom of the pass.All was then dead silence;for,loquacious as he was on other occasions,Captain Dalgetty knew well the necessity of an ambush keeping itself under covert.
The moon gleamed on the broken pathway,and on the projecting cliffs of rock round which it winded,its light intercepted here and there by the branches of bushes and dwarf-trees,which,finding nourishment in the crevices of the rocks,in some places overshadowed the brow and ledge of the precipice.Below,a thick copse-wood lay in deep and dark shadow,somewhat resembling the billows of a half-seen ocean.From the bosom of that darkness,and close to the bottom of the precipice,the hound was heard at intervals baying fearfully,sounds which were redoubled by the echoes of the woods and rocks around.At intervals,these sunk into deep silence,interrupted only by the plashing noise of a small runnel of water,which partly fell from the rock,partly found a more silent passage to the bottom along its projecting surface.Voices of men were also heard in stifled converse below;it seemed as if the pursuers had not discovered the narrow path which led to the top of the rock,or that,having discovered it,the peril of the ascent,joined to the imperfect light,and the uncertainty whether it might not be defended,made them hesitate to attempt it.
At length a shadowy figure was seen,which raised itself up from the abyss of darkness below,and,emerging into the pale moonlight,began cautiously and slowly to ascend the rocky path.
The outline was so distinctly marked,that Captain Dalgetty could discover not only the person of a Highlander,but the long gun which he carried in his hand,and the plume of feathers which decorated his bonnet."TAUSEND TEIFLEN!that I should say so,and so like to be near my latter end!"ejaculated the Captain,but under his breath,"what will become of us,now they have brought musketry to encounter our archers?"
But just as the pursuer had attained a projecting piece of rock about half way up the ascent,and,pausing,made a signal for those who were still at the bottom to follow him,an arrow whistled from the bow of one of the Children of the Mist,and transfixed him with so fatal a wound,that,without a single effort to save himself,he lost his balance,and fell headlong from the cliff on which he stood,into the darkness below.The crash of the boughs which received him,and the heavy sound of his fall from thence to the ground,was followed by a cry of horror and surprise,which burst from his followers.The Children of the Mist,encouraged in proportion to the alarm this first success had caused among the pursuers,echoed back the clamour with a loud and shrill yell of exultation,and,showing themselves on the brow of the precipice,with wild cries and vindictive gestures,endeavoured to impress on their enemies a sense at once of their courage,their numbers,and their state of defence.Even Captain Dalgetty's military prudence did not prevent his rising up,and calling out to Ranald,more loud than prudence warranted,"CAROCCO,comrade,as the Spaniard says!The long-bow for ever!In my poor apprehension now,were you to order a file to advance and take position--"
"The Sassenach!"cried a voice from beneath,"mark the Sassenach sidier!I see the glitter of his breastplate."At the same time three muskets were discharged;and while one ball rattled against the corslet of proof,to the strength of which our valiant Captain had been more than once indebted for his life,another penetrated the armour which covered the front of his left thigh,and stretched him on the ground.Ranald instantly seized him in his arms,and bore him back from the edge of the precipice,while he dolefully ejaculated,"I always told the immortal Gustavus,Wallenstein,Tilly,and other men of the sword,that,in my poor mind,taslets ought to be made musket-proof."
With two or three earnest words in Gaelic,MacEagh commended the wounded man to the charge of the females,who were in the rear of his little party,and was then about to return to the contest.
But Dalgetty detained him,grasping a firm hold of his plaid.--"I know not how this matter may end--but I request you will inform Montrose,that I died like a follower of the immortal Gustavus --and I pray you,take heed how you quit your present strength,even for the purpose of pursuing the enemy,if you gain any advantage--and--and--"
