CalvinU/project-gutenberg · Datasets at Hugging Face

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44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	CHAPTER XXII Grippy passed the interval between the visit and the day appointed for the execution of the deeds of entail with as much comfort of mind as Heaven commonly bestows on a man conscious of an unjust intention, and unable to excuse it to himself.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Charles, who, in the meantime, naturally felt some anxiety to learn the precise nature of the intended settlement, was early afoot on the morning of Wednesday, and walked from the lodgings where he resided with his wife in Glasgow to meet his father and brother, on their way to the town.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Being rather before the time appointed, he went forward to the house, on the green plot in front of which the old man was standing, with his hands behind, and his head thoughtfully bent downwards.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The approach of his son roused Claud from his reverie; and he went briskly forward to meet him, shaking him heartily by the hand, and inquiring, with more kindness than the occasion required, for the health of his young wife.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Such unusual cordiality tended to confirm the delusion which the gift of the bank-bill on Sunday had inspired; but the paroxysm of affection produced by the effort to disguise the sense which the old man suffered of the irreparable wrong he was so doggedly resolved to commit, soon went off; and, in the midst of his congratulations, conscience smote him with such confusion, that he was obliged to turn away, to conceal the embarrassment which betrayed the insincerity of the warmth he had so well assumed.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Poor Charles, however, was prevented from observing the change in his manner and countenance, by Walter appearing at the door in his Sunday clothes, followed by his mother, with his best hat in her hand, which she was smoothing at the same time with the tail of her apron.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'I redde ye, my bairn,' said she to Walter, as she gave him the hat, 'to take care o' thysel, for ye ken
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	they're an unco crew ay in the Trongate on Wednesday; and mind what I hae been telling you, no to put your hand to pen and ink unless Mr. Keelevin tells you it's to be for your advantage; for Charlie's your father's ain chevalier, and nae farther gane than the last Lord's day, he gied him, as I telt you, a whole hundred pound for hansel to his tocherless matrimony.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Charles, at this speech, reddened and walked back from the house, without speaking to his mother; but he had not advanced many steps towards the gate, when she cried,-- 'Hey, Charlie! are ye sae muckle ta'en up wi' your bonny bride, that your mother's already forgotten?'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	He felt the reproof, and immediately turned and went back to make some apology, but she prevented him by saying,-- 'See that this is no a Jacob and Esau business, Charlie, and that ye dinna wrang poor Watty; for he's an easy good-natured lad, and will just do what either you or his father bids him.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Charles laughed, and replied,-- 'I think, mother, your exhortation should rather be to Watty than me; for ye ken Jacob was the youngest, and beguiled his auld brother of the birthright.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The old man heard the remark, and felt it rush through his very soul with the anguish of a barbed and feathered arrow; and he exclaimed, with an accent of remorse as sharp and bitter as the voice of anger,-- 'Hae done wi' your clavers, and come awa.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Do ye think Mr. Keelevin has nothing mair to do than to wait for us, while ye're talking profanity, and taigling at this gait?
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Come awa, Watty, ye gumshionless cuif as ever father was plagued wi'; and Charlie, my lad, let us gang thegither, the haverel will follow; for if it has na the colley-dog's sense, it has something like its instinct.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	And so saying, he stepped on hastily towards the gate, swinging his staff in his right hand, and walking faster and more erectly than he was wont.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The two sons, seeing the pace at which their father was going forward, parted from their mother and followed him, Charles laughing and jeering at the beau which Walter had made of himself.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	During the journey the old man kept aloof from them, turning occasionally round to rebuke their mirth, for there was something in the freedom and gaiety of Charles's laugh that reproached his spirit, and the folly of Walter was never so disagreeable to him before.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	When they reached the office of Mr. Keelevin, they found him with the parchments ready on the desk; but before reading them over, he requested the Laird to step in with him into his inner-chamber.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Noo, Mr. Walkinshaw,' said he, when he had shut the door, 'I hope ye have well reflected on this step, for when it is done, there's nae power in the law o' Scotland to undo it.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	I would, therefore, fain hope
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	ye're no doing this out of any motive or feeling of resentment for the thoughtless marriage, it may be, of your auld son.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Claud assured him, that he was not in the slightest degree influenced by any such sentiment; adding, 'But, Mr. Keelevin, though I employ you to do my business, I dinna think ye ought to catechize me.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Ye're, as I would say, but the pen in this matter, and the right or the wrong o't's a' my ain.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	I would, therefore, counsel you, noo that the papers are ready, that they should be implemented, and for that purpose, I hae brought my twa sons to be the witnesses themselves to the act and deed.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Mr. Keelevin held up his hands, and, starting back, gave a deep sigh as he said,--'It's no possible that Charlie can be consenting to his own disinheritance, or he's as daft as his brother.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Consenting here, or consenting there, Mr. Keelevin,' replied the father, 'ye'll just bring in the papers and read them o'er to me; ye need na fash to ca' ben the lads, for that might breed strife atween them.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Na! as sure's death, Mr. Walkinshaw,' exclaimed the honest writer, with a warmth and simplicity rather obsolete among his professional brethren now-a-days, however much they may have been distinguished for those qualities in the innocent golden age; 'Na! as sure's death, Mr. Walkinshaw, this is mair than I hae the conscience to do; the lads are parties to the transaction, by their reversionary interest, and it is but right and proper they should know what they are about.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Mr. Keelevin,' cried the Laird, peevishly, 'ye're surely growing doited.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	It would be an unco-like thing if witnesses to our wills and testaments had a right to ken what we bequeathe.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Please God, neither Charlie nor Watty sall be ony the wiser o' this day's purpose, as lang as the breath's in my body.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Weel, Mr. Walkinshaw,' replied the lawyer, 'ye'll tak your own way o't, I see that; but, as ye led me to believe, I hope an' trust it's in your power to make up to Charles the consequences of this very extraordinary entail; and I hope ye'll lose no time till ye hae done sae.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Mr. Keelevin, ye'll read the papers,' was the brief and abrupt answer which Claud made to this admonition; and the papers were accordingly brought in and read.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	During the reading, Claud was frequently afflicted by the discordant cheerfulness of Charles's voice in the outer room, joking with the clerks at the expense of his fortunate brother; but the task of aforesaids and hereafters being finished, he called them in, with a sharp and peevish accent, and signed the deeds in their presence.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Charles took the pen from his father, and also at once signed as witness, while Mr. Keelevin looked the living image of amazement; but, when the pen was presented to Watty, he refused to take it.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'What am I to get by this?' said the natural, mindful of his mother's advice.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'I would like to ken that.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Nobody writes papers without payment.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'T'ou's a born idiot,' said the father; 'wilt t'ou no do as t'ou's bidden?'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'I'll do ony other thing ye like, but I'll no sign that drum-head paper, without an advantage: ye would na get Mr. Keelevin to do the like o't without payment; and what for should ye get me?
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Have na I come in a' the gait frae the Grippy to do this; and am I no to get a black bawbee for my pains?'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The Laird masked the vexation with which this idiot speech of his destined heir troubled his self-possession, while Charles sat down in one of the chairs, convulsed with laughter.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Claud was not, however, to be deterred from his purpose by the absurdity of his son: on the contrary, he was afraid to make the extent of the fool's folly too evident, lest it might afterwards be rendered instrumental to set aside the entail.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	He called in one of the clerks from the outer-chamber, and requested him to attest his signature.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Walter loudly complained of being so treated; and said, that he expected a guinea, at the very least, for the trouble he had been put to; for so he interpreted the advantage to which his mother had alluded.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Weel, weel,' said his father, 'ha'd thy tongue, and t'ou sall get a guinea; but first sign this other paper,' presenting to him the second deed; by which, as possessor of the Plealands' estate, he entailed it in the same manner, and to the same line of succession, as he had himself destined the Grippy.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The assurance of the guinea was effectual; Walter signed the deed, which was witnessed by Charles and the clerk; and the disinheritance was thus made complete.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	CHAPTER XXIII On leaving the office of Mr. Keelevin, Charles invited his father and brother to go home with him; but the old man abruptly turned away.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Walter, however, appeared inclined to accept the invitation, and was moving off with Charles, when their father looked back, and chidingly commanded him to come along.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	At any other time, this little incident would have been unnoticed by Charles, who, believing the old man had made some liberal provision for him or for his wife, was struck with the harsh contrast of such behaviour to the paternal affection by which he thought him actuated; and he paused, in consequence, thoughtfully looking after him as he walked towards the Cross, followed by Walter.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Grippy had not proceeded above twenty or thirty paces when he stopped, and turning round, called to his son, who immediately obeyed the summons.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Charlie,' said he, 'I hope t'ou'll let nae daffing nor ploys about this marriage o' thine tak up thy attention frae the shop; for business maun be minded; and I'm thinking t'ou had as weel be making up a bit balance-sheet, that I may see how the counts stand between us.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	This touched an irksome recollection, and recalled to mind the observation which his father had made on the occasion of Fatherlans' ruin, with respect to the hazards of taking into partnership a man with the prospect of a family.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'I hope,' was his reply, 'that it is not your intention, sir, to close accounts with me?'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'No, Charlie, no,' was his answer.--'I'll maybe mak things better for thee--t'ou'll no be out o' the need o't.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	But atween hands mak up the balance-sheet, and come doun on Saturday wi' thy wife to Grippy, and we'll hae some discourse anent it.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	With these words, the old man and Walter again went on towards the Cross, leaving Charles standing perplexed, and unable to divine the source and motives of his father's behaviour.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	It seemed altogether so unaccountable, that for a moment he thought of going back to Mr. Keelevin to ask him concerning the settlements; but a sense of propriety restrained him, and he thought it alike indelicate and dishonourable to pry into an affair which was so evidently concealed from him.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	But this restraint, and these considerations, did not in any degree tend to allay the anxiety which the mysteriousness of his father's conduct had so keenly excited; so that, when he returned home to Isabella, he appeared absent and thoughtful, which she attributed to some disappointment in his expectations,--an idea the more natural to her, as she had, from the visit on Sunday, been haunted with an apprehension that there was something unsound in the reconciliation.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Upon being questioned as to the cause of his altered spirits, Charles could give no feasible reason for the change.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	He described what had passed, he mentioned what his father had said, and he communicated the invitation, in all which there was nothing that the mind could lay hold of, nor aught to justify his strange and indescribable apprehension, if that feeling might be called an apprehension, to which his imagination could attach no danger, nor conjure up any thing to be feared.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	On the contrary, so far from having reason to suspect that evil was meditated against him, he had received a positive assurance that his circumstances would probably receive an immediate improvement; but for all that, there had been, in the reserve of the old man's manner, and in the vagueness of his promises, a something which sounded hollowly to his hope, and deprived him of confidence in the anticipations he had cherished.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	While Isabella and he were sitting together conversing on the subject, the old Leddy Plealands came in, anxious to hear what had been done, having previously been informed of the intended settlements, but not of their nature and objects.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In her character, as we have already intimated, there was a considerable vein, if not of romantic sentiment, unquestionably of morbid sensibility.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	She disliked her son-in-law from the first moment in which she saw him; and this dislike had made her so averse to his company, that, although their connexion was now nearly of four-and-twenty years' standing, she had still but a very imperfect notion of his character.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	She regarded him as one of the most sordid of men, without being aware that avarice with him was but an agent in the pursuit of that ancestral phantom which he worshipped as the chief, almost the only, good in life; and, therefore, could neither imagine any possible ground for supposing, that, after being reconciled, he could intend his first-born any injury, nor sympathize with the anxieties which her young friends freely confessed both felt, while she could not but deplore the unsatisfactory state of their immediate situation.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In the meantime, Walter and his father were walking homeward.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The old man held no communion with his son; but now and then he rebuked him for halloing at birds in the hedges, or chasing butterflies, a sport so unbecoming his years.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In their way they had occasion to pass the end of the path which led to Kilmarkeckle, where Miss Bodle, the heiress, resided with her father.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Watty,' said Grippy to his son, 'gae thy ways hame by thysel, and tell thy mither that am gaun up to the Kilmarkeckle to hae some discourse wi' Mr. Bodle, so that she need na weary if I dinna come hame to my dinner.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Ye had better come hame,' said Watty, 'for there's a sheep's head in the pat, wi' a cuff o' the neck like ony Glasgow
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	bailie's.--Ye'll
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	no get the like o't at Kilmarkeckle, where the kail's sae thin that every pile o' barley runs roun' the dish, bobbing and bidding gude day to its neighbour.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Claud had turned into the footpath from the main road, but there was something in this speech which did more than provoke his displeasure; and he said aloud, and with an accent of profound dread,--'I hope the Lord can forgi'e me for what I hae done to this fool!'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Walter was not so void of sense as to be incapable of comprehending the substance of this contrite exclamation; and instantly recollecting his mother's admonition, and having some idea, imperfect as it was, of the peril of parchments with seals on them, he began, with obstreperous sobs and wails, to weep and cry, because, as he said, 'My father and our Charlie had fastened on me the black bargain o' a law plea to wrang me o' auld daddy's mailing.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Grippy was petrified; it seemed to him that his son was that day smitten, in anger to him by the hand of Heaven, with a more disgusting idiocy than he had ever before exhibited, and, instigated by the aversion of the moment, he rushed towards him, and struck him so furiously with his stick, that he sent him yelling homeward as fast as he could run.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The injustice and the rashness of the action were felt at once, and, overpowered for a few seconds by shame, remorse, and grief, the old man sat down on a low dry-stone wall that bounded the road on one side, and clasping his hands fervently together, confessed with bitter tears that he doubted he had committed a great sin.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	It was, however, but a transitory contrition, for, hearing some one approaching, he rose abruptly, and lifting his stick, which he had dropped in his agitation, walked up the footpath towards Kilmarkeckle; but he had not advanced many paces when a hand was laid on his shoulder.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	He looked round, and it was Walter, with his hat folded together in his hand.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Father,' said the fool, 'I hae catched a muckle bum-bee; will ye help to haud it till I take out the honey blob?'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'I'll go hame, Watty--I'll go hame,' was the only answer he made, in an accent of extreme sorrow, 'I'll go hame; I daur do nae mair this day,' and he returned back with Walter to the main road, where, having again recovered his self-possession, he said, 'I'm dafter than thee to gang on in this fool gait; go, as I bade thee, hame and tell thy mother no to look for me to dinner, for I'll aiblins bide wi' Kilmarkeckle.'
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In saying which, he turned briskly round, and, without ever looking behind, walked with an alert step, swinging his staff courageously, and never halted till he reached Kilmarkeckle House, where he was met at the door by Mr. Bodle himself, who, seeing him approaching up the avenue, came out to meet him.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	CHAPTER XXIV Bodle of Kilmarkeckle, like all the lairds of that time, was come of an ancient family, in some degree related to the universal stock of Adam, but how much more ancient, no historian has yet undertaken to show.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Like his contemporaries of the same station, he was, of course, proud of his lineage; but he valued himself more on his own accomplishments than even on the superior purity of his blood.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	We are, however, in doubt, whether he ought to be described as an artist or a philosopher, for he had equal claims to the honour of being both, and certainly without question, in the art of delineating hieroglyphical resemblances of birds and beasts on the walls of his parlour with snuff, he had evinced, if not talent or genius, at least considerable industry.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In the course of more than twenty years, he had not only covered the walls with many a curious and grotesque form, but invented,--and therein lay the principle of his philosophy--a particular classification, as original and descriptive as that of Linnaeus.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	At an early age he had acquired the habit of taking snuff, and in process of time became, as all regular snuff-takers are, acute in discriminating the shades and inflexions of flavour in the kind to which he was addicted.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	This was at once the cause and the principle of his science.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	For the nature of each of the birds and beasts which he modelled resembled, as he averred, some peculiarity in the tobacco of which the snuff that they severally represented had been made; and really, to do him justice, it was quite wonderful to hear with what ingenuity he could explain the discriminative qualities in which the resemblance of attributes and character consisted.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	But it must be confessed, that he sometimes fell into that bad custom remarkable among philosophers, of talking a great deal too much to every body, and on every occasion, of his favourite study.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Saving this, however, the Laird of Kilmarkeckle was in other respects a harmless easy-tempered man, of a nature so kind and indulgent, that he allowed all about him to grow to rankness.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	The number of cats of every size and age which frisked in his parlour, or basked at the sunny side of the house, exceeded all reasonable credibility, and yet it was a common saying among the neighbours, that Kilmarkeckle's mice kittled twice as often as his cats.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	In nothing was his easy and indulgent nature more shown than in his daughter, Miss Betty, who having, at an early age, lost her mother, he had permitted to run unbridled among the servants, till the habits which she had acquired in consequence rendered every subsequent attempt to reduce her into the requisite subjection of the sex totally unavailing.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	She had turned her twentieth year, and was not without beauty, but of such a sturdy and athletic kind, that, with her open ruddy countenance, laughing eyes, white well-set teeth, and free and joyous step and air, justly entitled her to the nickname of Fun, bestowed by Charles Walkinshaw.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	She was fond of dogs and horses, and was a better shot than the Duke of Douglas's gamekeeper.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Bold, boisterous, and frank, she made no scruple of employing her whip when rudely treated either by master or man; for she frequently laid herself open to freedoms from both, and she neither felt nor pretended to any of her sex's gentleness nor delicacy.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Still she was not without a conciliatory portion of feminine virtues, and perhaps, had she been fated to become the wife of a sportsman or a soldier, she might possibly have appeared on the turf or in the tent to considerable advantage.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Such a woman, it may be supposed, could not but look with the most thorough contempt on Walter Walkinshaw; and yet, from the accidental circumstance of being often his playmate in childhood, and making him, in the frolic of their juvenile amusements, her butt and toy, she had contracted something like an habitual affection for the creature; in so much, that, when her father, after Claud's visit, proposed Walter for her husband, she made no serious objection to the match; on the contrary, she laughed, and amused herself with the idea of making him fetch and carry as whimsically as of old, and do her hests and biddings as implicitly as when they were children.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	Every thing thus seemed auspicious to a speedy and happy union of the properties of Kilmarkeckle and Grippy,--indeed, so far beyond the most sanguine expectations of Claud, that, when he saw the philosophical Laird coming next morning, with a canister of snuff in his hand, to tell him the result of his communication to Miss Betty, his mind was prepared to hear a most decided, and even a menacing refusal, for having ventured to make the proposal.
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	'Come away, Kilmarkeckle,' said he, meeting him at the door; 'come in by--what's the best o' your news this morning?
44,573	The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy	I hope nothing's wrang at hame, to gar you look sae as ye were fasht?'

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CHAPTER XXII Grippy passed the interval between the visit and the day appointed for the execution of the deeds of entail with as much comfort of mind as Heaven commonly bestows on a man conscious of an unjust intention, and unable to excuse it to himself.

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Charles, who, in the meantime, naturally felt some anxiety to learn the precise nature of the intended settlement, was early afoot on the morning of Wednesday, and walked from the lodgings where he resided with his wife in Glasgow to meet his father and brother, on their way to the town.

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The Entail; or, The Lairds of Grippy

Being rather before the time appointed, he went forward to the house, on the green plot in front of which the old man was standing, with his hands behind, and his head thoughtfully bent downwards.

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The approach of his son roused Claud from his reverie; and he went briskly forward to meet him, shaking him heartily by the hand, and inquiring, with more kindness than the occasion required, for the health of his young wife.

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Such unusual cordiality tended to confirm the delusion which the gift of the bank-bill on Sunday had inspired; but the paroxysm of affection produced by the effort to disguise the sense which the old man suffered of the irreparable wrong he was so doggedly resolved to commit, soon went off; and, in the midst of his congratulations, conscience smote him with such confusion, that he was obliged to turn away, to conceal the embarrassment which betrayed the insincerity of the warmth he had so well assumed.

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Poor Charles, however, was prevented from observing the change in his manner and countenance, by Walter appearing at the door in his Sunday clothes, followed by his mother, with his best hat in her hand, which she was smoothing at the same time with the tail of her apron.

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'I redde ye, my bairn,' said she to Walter, as she gave him the hat, 'to take care o' thysel, for ye ken

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they're an unco crew ay in the Trongate on Wednesday; and mind what I hae been telling you, no to put your hand to pen and ink unless Mr. Keelevin tells you it's to be for your advantage; for Charlie's your father's ain chevalier, and nae farther gane than the last Lord's day, he gied him, as I telt you, a whole hundred pound for hansel to his tocherless matrimony.'

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Charles, at this speech, reddened and walked back from the house, without speaking to his mother; but he had not advanced many steps towards the gate, when she cried,-- 'Hey, Charlie! are ye sae muckle ta'en up wi' your bonny bride, that your mother's already forgotten?'

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He felt the reproof, and immediately turned and went back to make some apology, but she prevented him by saying,-- 'See that this is no a Jacob and Esau business, Charlie, and that ye dinna wrang poor Watty; for he's an easy good-natured lad, and will just do what either you or his father bids him.'

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Charles laughed, and replied,-- 'I think, mother, your exhortation should rather be to Watty than me; for ye ken Jacob was the youngest, and beguiled his auld brother of the birthright.'

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The old man heard the remark, and felt it rush through his very soul with the anguish of a barbed and feathered arrow; and he exclaimed, with an accent of remorse as sharp and bitter as the voice of anger,-- 'Hae done wi' your clavers, and come awa.

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Do ye think Mr. Keelevin has nothing mair to do than to wait for us, while ye're talking profanity, and taigling at this gait?

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Come awa, Watty, ye gumshionless cuif as ever father was plagued wi'; and Charlie, my lad, let us gang thegither, the haverel will follow; for if it has na the colley-dog's sense, it has something like its instinct.'

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And so saying, he stepped on hastily towards the gate, swinging his staff in his right hand, and walking faster and more erectly than he was wont.

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The two sons, seeing the pace at which their father was going forward, parted from their mother and followed him, Charles laughing and jeering at the beau which Walter had made of himself.

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During the journey the old man kept aloof from them, turning occasionally round to rebuke their mirth, for there was something in the freedom and gaiety of Charles's laugh that reproached his spirit, and the folly of Walter was never so disagreeable to him before.

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When they reached the office of Mr. Keelevin, they found him with the parchments ready on the desk; but before reading them over, he requested the Laird to step in with him into his inner-chamber.

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'Noo, Mr. Walkinshaw,' said he, when he had shut the door, 'I hope ye have well reflected on this step, for when it is done, there's nae power in the law o' Scotland to undo it.

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I would, therefore, fain hope

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ye're no doing this out of any motive or feeling of resentment for the thoughtless marriage, it may be, of your auld son.'

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Claud assured him, that he was not in the slightest degree influenced by any such sentiment; adding, 'But, Mr. Keelevin, though I employ you to do my business, I dinna think ye ought to catechize me.

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Ye're, as I would say, but the pen in this matter, and the right or the wrong o't's a' my ain.

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I would, therefore, counsel you, noo that the papers are ready, that they should be implemented, and for that purpose, I hae brought my twa sons to be the witnesses themselves to the act and deed.'

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Mr. Keelevin held up his hands, and, starting back, gave a deep sigh as he said,--'It's no possible that Charlie can be consenting to his own disinheritance, or he's as daft as his brother.'

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'Consenting here, or consenting there, Mr. Keelevin,' replied the father, 'ye'll just bring in the papers and read them o'er to me; ye need na fash to ca' ben the lads, for that might breed strife atween them.'

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'Na! as sure's death, Mr. Walkinshaw,' exclaimed the honest writer, with a warmth and simplicity rather obsolete among his professional brethren now-a-days, however much they may have been distinguished for those qualities in the innocent golden age; 'Na! as sure's death, Mr. Walkinshaw, this is mair than I hae the conscience to do; the lads are parties to the transaction, by their reversionary interest, and it is but right and proper they should know what they are about.'

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'Mr. Keelevin,' cried the Laird, peevishly, 'ye're surely growing doited.

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It would be an unco-like thing if witnesses to our wills and testaments had a right to ken what we bequeathe.

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Please God, neither Charlie nor Watty sall be ony the wiser o' this day's purpose, as lang as the breath's in my body.'

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'Weel, Mr. Walkinshaw,' replied the lawyer, 'ye'll tak your own way o't, I see that; but, as ye led me to believe, I hope an' trust it's in your power to make up to Charles the consequences of this very extraordinary entail; and I hope ye'll lose no time till ye hae done sae.'

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'Mr. Keelevin, ye'll read the papers,' was the brief and abrupt answer which Claud made to this admonition; and the papers were accordingly brought in and read.

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During the reading, Claud was frequently afflicted by the discordant cheerfulness of Charles's voice in the outer room, joking with the clerks at the expense of his fortunate brother; but the task of aforesaids and hereafters being finished, he called them in, with a sharp and peevish accent, and signed the deeds in their presence.

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Charles took the pen from his father, and also at once signed as witness, while Mr. Keelevin looked the living image of amazement; but, when the pen was presented to Watty, he refused to take it.

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'What am I to get by this?' said the natural, mindful of his mother's advice.

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'I would like to ken that.

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Nobody writes papers without payment.'

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'T'ou's a born idiot,' said the father; 'wilt t'ou no do as t'ou's bidden?'

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'I'll do ony other thing ye like, but I'll no sign that drum-head paper, without an advantage: ye would na get Mr. Keelevin to do the like o't without payment; and what for should ye get me?

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Have na I come in a' the gait frae the Grippy to do this; and am I no to get a black bawbee for my pains?'

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The Laird masked the vexation with which this idiot speech of his destined heir troubled his self-possession, while Charles sat down in one of the chairs, convulsed with laughter.

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Claud was not, however, to be deterred from his purpose by the absurdity of his son: on the contrary, he was afraid to make the extent of the fool's folly too evident, lest it might afterwards be rendered instrumental to set aside the entail.

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He called in one of the clerks from the outer-chamber, and requested him to attest his signature.

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Walter loudly complained of being so treated; and said, that he expected a guinea, at the very least, for the trouble he had been put to; for so he interpreted the advantage to which his mother had alluded.

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'Weel, weel,' said his father, 'ha'd thy tongue, and t'ou sall get a guinea; but first sign this other paper,' presenting to him the second deed; by which, as possessor of the Plealands' estate, he entailed it in the same manner, and to the same line of succession, as he had himself destined the Grippy.

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The assurance of the guinea was effectual; Walter signed the deed, which was witnessed by Charles and the clerk; and the disinheritance was thus made complete.

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CHAPTER XXIII On leaving the office of Mr. Keelevin, Charles invited his father and brother to go home with him; but the old man abruptly turned away.

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Walter, however, appeared inclined to accept the invitation, and was moving off with Charles, when their father looked back, and chidingly commanded him to come along.

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At any other time, this little incident would have been unnoticed by Charles, who, believing the old man had made some liberal provision for him or for his wife, was struck with the harsh contrast of such behaviour to the paternal affection by which he thought him actuated; and he paused, in consequence, thoughtfully looking after him as he walked towards the Cross, followed by Walter.

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Grippy had not proceeded above twenty or thirty paces when he stopped, and turning round, called to his son, who immediately obeyed the summons.

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'Charlie,' said he, 'I hope t'ou'll let nae daffing nor ploys about this marriage o' thine tak up thy attention frae the shop; for business maun be minded; and I'm thinking t'ou had as weel be making up a bit balance-sheet, that I may see how the counts stand between us.'

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This touched an irksome recollection, and recalled to mind the observation which his father had made on the occasion of Fatherlans' ruin, with respect to the hazards of taking into partnership a man with the prospect of a family.

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'I hope,' was his reply, 'that it is not your intention, sir, to close accounts with me?'

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'No, Charlie, no,' was his answer.--'I'll maybe mak things better for thee--t'ou'll no be out o' the need o't.

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But atween hands mak up the balance-sheet, and come doun on Saturday wi' thy wife to Grippy, and we'll hae some discourse anent it.'

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With these words, the old man and Walter again went on towards the Cross, leaving Charles standing perplexed, and unable to divine the source and motives of his father's behaviour.

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It seemed altogether so unaccountable, that for a moment he thought of going back to Mr. Keelevin to ask him concerning the settlements; but a sense of propriety restrained him, and he thought it alike indelicate and dishonourable to pry into an affair which was so evidently concealed from him.

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But this restraint, and these considerations, did not in any degree tend to allay the anxiety which the mysteriousness of his father's conduct had so keenly excited; so that, when he returned home to Isabella, he appeared absent and thoughtful, which she attributed to some disappointment in his expectations,--an idea the more natural to her, as she had, from the visit on Sunday, been haunted with an apprehension that there was something unsound in the reconciliation.

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Upon being questioned as to the cause of his altered spirits, Charles could give no feasible reason for the change.

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He described what had passed, he mentioned what his father had said, and he communicated the invitation, in all which there was nothing that the mind could lay hold of, nor aught to justify his strange and indescribable apprehension, if that feeling might be called an apprehension, to which his imagination could attach no danger, nor conjure up any thing to be feared.

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On the contrary, so far from having reason to suspect that evil was meditated against him, he had received a positive assurance that his circumstances would probably receive an immediate improvement; but for all that, there had been, in the reserve of the old man's manner, and in the vagueness of his promises, a something which sounded hollowly to his hope, and deprived him of confidence in the anticipations he had cherished.

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While Isabella and he were sitting together conversing on the subject, the old Leddy Plealands came in, anxious to hear what had been done, having previously been informed of the intended settlements, but not of their nature and objects.

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In her character, as we have already intimated, there was a considerable vein, if not of romantic sentiment, unquestionably of morbid sensibility.

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She disliked her son-in-law from the first moment in which she saw him; and this dislike had made her so averse to his company, that, although their connexion was now nearly of four-and-twenty years' standing, she had still but a very imperfect notion of his character.

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She regarded him as one of the most sordid of men, without being aware that avarice with him was but an agent in the pursuit of that ancestral phantom which he worshipped as the chief, almost the only, good in life; and, therefore, could neither imagine any possible ground for supposing, that, after being reconciled, he could intend his first-born any injury, nor sympathize with the anxieties which her young friends freely confessed both felt, while she could not but deplore the unsatisfactory state of their immediate situation.

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In the meantime, Walter and his father were walking homeward.

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The old man held no communion with his son; but now and then he rebuked him for halloing at birds in the hedges, or chasing butterflies, a sport so unbecoming his years.

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In their way they had occasion to pass the end of the path which led to Kilmarkeckle, where Miss Bodle, the heiress, resided with her father.

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'Watty,' said Grippy to his son, 'gae thy ways hame by thysel, and tell thy mither that am gaun up to the Kilmarkeckle to hae some discourse wi' Mr. Bodle, so that she need na weary if I dinna come hame to my dinner.'

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'Ye had better come hame,' said Watty, 'for there's a sheep's head in the pat, wi' a cuff o' the neck like ony Glasgow

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bailie's.--Ye'll

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no get the like o't at Kilmarkeckle, where the kail's sae thin that every pile o' barley runs roun' the dish, bobbing and bidding gude day to its neighbour.'

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Claud had turned into the footpath from the main road, but there was something in this speech which did more than provoke his displeasure; and he said aloud, and with an accent of profound dread,--'I hope the Lord can forgi'e me for what I hae done to this fool!'

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Walter was not so void of sense as to be incapable of comprehending the substance of this contrite exclamation; and instantly recollecting his mother's admonition, and having some idea, imperfect as it was, of the peril of parchments with seals on them, he began, with obstreperous sobs and wails, to weep and cry, because, as he said, 'My father and our Charlie had fastened on me the black bargain o' a law plea to wrang me o' auld daddy's mailing.'

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Grippy was petrified; it seemed to him that his son was that day smitten, in anger to him by the hand of Heaven, with a more disgusting idiocy than he had ever before exhibited, and, instigated by the aversion of the moment, he rushed towards him, and struck him so furiously with his stick, that he sent him yelling homeward as fast as he could run.

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The injustice and the rashness of the action were felt at once, and, overpowered for a few seconds by shame, remorse, and grief, the old man sat down on a low dry-stone wall that bounded the road on one side, and clasping his hands fervently together, confessed with bitter tears that he doubted he had committed a great sin.

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It was, however, but a transitory contrition, for, hearing some one approaching, he rose abruptly, and lifting his stick, which he had dropped in his agitation, walked up the footpath towards Kilmarkeckle; but he had not advanced many paces when a hand was laid on his shoulder.

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He looked round, and it was Walter, with his hat folded together in his hand.

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'Father,' said the fool, 'I hae catched a muckle bum-bee; will ye help to haud it till I take out the honey blob?'

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'I'll go hame, Watty--I'll go hame,' was the only answer he made, in an accent of extreme sorrow, 'I'll go hame; I daur do nae mair this day,' and he returned back with Walter to the main road, where, having again recovered his self-possession, he said, 'I'm dafter than thee to gang on in this fool gait; go, as I bade thee, hame and tell thy mother no to look for me to dinner, for I'll aiblins bide wi' Kilmarkeckle.'

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In saying which, he turned briskly round, and, without ever looking behind, walked with an alert step, swinging his staff courageously, and never halted till he reached Kilmarkeckle House, where he was met at the door by Mr. Bodle himself, who, seeing him approaching up the avenue, came out to meet him.

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CHAPTER XXIV Bodle of Kilmarkeckle, like all the lairds of that time, was come of an ancient family, in some degree related to the universal stock of Adam, but how much more ancient, no historian has yet undertaken to show.

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Like his contemporaries of the same station, he was, of course, proud of his lineage; but he valued himself more on his own accomplishments than even on the superior purity of his blood.

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We are, however, in doubt, whether he ought to be described as an artist or a philosopher, for he had equal claims to the honour of being both, and certainly without question, in the art of delineating hieroglyphical resemblances of birds and beasts on the walls of his parlour with snuff, he had evinced, if not talent or genius, at least considerable industry.

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In the course of more than twenty years, he had not only covered the walls with many a curious and grotesque form, but invented,--and therein lay the principle of his philosophy--a particular classification, as original and descriptive as that of Linnaeus.

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At an early age he had acquired the habit of taking snuff, and in process of time became, as all regular snuff-takers are, acute in discriminating the shades and inflexions of flavour in the kind to which he was addicted.

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This was at once the cause and the principle of his science.

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For the nature of each of the birds and beasts which he modelled resembled, as he averred, some peculiarity in the tobacco of which the snuff that they severally represented had been made; and really, to do him justice, it was quite wonderful to hear with what ingenuity he could explain the discriminative qualities in which the resemblance of attributes and character consisted.

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But it must be confessed, that he sometimes fell into that bad custom remarkable among philosophers, of talking a great deal too much to every body, and on every occasion, of his favourite study.

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Saving this, however, the Laird of Kilmarkeckle was in other respects a harmless easy-tempered man, of a nature so kind and indulgent, that he allowed all about him to grow to rankness.

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The number of cats of every size and age which frisked in his parlour, or basked at the sunny side of the house, exceeded all reasonable credibility, and yet it was a common saying among the neighbours, that Kilmarkeckle's mice kittled twice as often as his cats.

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In nothing was his easy and indulgent nature more shown than in his daughter, Miss Betty, who having, at an early age, lost her mother, he had permitted to run unbridled among the servants, till the habits which she had acquired in consequence rendered every subsequent attempt to reduce her into the requisite subjection of the sex totally unavailing.

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She had turned her twentieth year, and was not without beauty, but of such a sturdy and athletic kind, that, with her open ruddy countenance, laughing eyes, white well-set teeth, and free and joyous step and air, justly entitled her to the nickname of Fun, bestowed by Charles Walkinshaw.

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She was fond of dogs and horses, and was a better shot than the Duke of Douglas's gamekeeper.

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Bold, boisterous, and frank, she made no scruple of employing her whip when rudely treated either by master or man; for she frequently laid herself open to freedoms from both, and she neither felt nor pretended to any of her sex's gentleness nor delicacy.

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Still she was not without a conciliatory portion of feminine virtues, and perhaps, had she been fated to become the wife of a sportsman or a soldier, she might possibly have appeared on the turf or in the tent to considerable advantage.

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Such a woman, it may be supposed, could not but look with the most thorough contempt on Walter Walkinshaw; and yet, from the accidental circumstance of being often his playmate in childhood, and making him, in the frolic of their juvenile amusements, her butt and toy, she had contracted something like an habitual affection for the creature; in so much, that, when her father, after Claud's visit, proposed Walter for her husband, she made no serious objection to the match; on the contrary, she laughed, and amused herself with the idea of making him fetch and carry as whimsically as of old, and do her hests and biddings as implicitly as when they were children.

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Every thing thus seemed auspicious to a speedy and happy union of the properties of Kilmarkeckle and Grippy,--indeed, so far beyond the most sanguine expectations of Claud, that, when he saw the philosophical Laird coming next morning, with a canister of snuff in his hand, to tell him the result of his communication to Miss Betty, his mind was prepared to hear a most decided, and even a menacing refusal, for having ventured to make the proposal.

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'Come away, Kilmarkeckle,' said he, meeting him at the door; 'come in by--what's the best o' your news this morning?

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I hope nothing's wrang at hame, to gar you look sae as ye were fasht?'