第30章 A LEGEND OF MONTROSE.(23)

He spoke this scornfully,yet not without a sort of curiosity,and a wish to receive an answer;for the desire of prying into futurity frequently has some influence even on the minds of those who disavow all belief in the possibility of such predictions.

"Your rank,my lord,will suffer no dishonour in your person,or by the manner of your death.Three times have I seen a Highlander plant his dirk in your bosom--and such will be your fate."

"I wish you would describe him to me,"said Lord Menteith,"and I shall save him the trouble of fulfilling your prophecy,if his plaid be passible to sword or pistol."

"Your weapons,"said Allan,"would avail you little;nor can I give you the information you desire.The face of the vision has been ever averted from me."

"So be it then,"said Lord Menteith,"and let it rest in the uncertainty in which your augury has placed it.I shall dine not the less merrily among plaids,and dirks,and kilts to-day."

"It may be so,"said Allan;"and,it may be,you do well to enjoy these moments,which to me are poisoned by auguries of future evil.But I,"he continued--"I repeat to you,that this weapon --that is,such a weapon as this,"touching the hilt of the dirk which he wore,"carries your fate.""In the meanwhile,"said Lord Menteith,"you,Allan,have frightened the blood from the cheeks of Annot Lyle--let us leave this discourse,my friend,and go to see what we both understand,--the progress of our military preparations."

They joined Angus M'Aulay and his English guests,and,in the military discussions which immediately took place,Allan showed a clearness of mind,strength of judgment,and precision of thought,totally inconsistent with the mystical light in which his character has been hitherto exhibited.

CHAPTER VII.

When Albin her claymore indignantly draws,When her bonneted chieftains around her shall crowd,Clan-Ranald the dauntless,and Moray the proud,All plaided and plumed in their tartan array--

LOCHEIL'S WARNING.

Whoever saw that morning,the Castle of Darnlinvarach,beheld a busy and a gallant sight.

The various Chiefs,arriving with their different retinues,which,notwithstanding their numbers,formed no more than their usual equipage and body-guard upon occasions of solemnity,saluted the lord of the castle and each other with overflowing kindness,or with haughty and distant politeness,according to the circumstances of friendship or hostility in which their clans had recently stood to each other.Each Chief,however small his comparative importance,showed the full disposition to exact from the rest the deference due to a separate and independent prince;

while the stronger and more powerful,divided among themselves by recent contentions or ancient feuds,were constrained in policy to use great deference to the feelings of their less powerful brethren,in order,in case of need,to attach as many well-wishers as might be to their own interest and standard.Thus the meeting of Chiefs resembled not a little those ancient Diets of the Empire,where the smallest FREY-GRAF,who possessed a castle perched upon a barren crag,with a few hundred acres around it,claimed the state and honours of a sovereign prince,and a seat according to his rank among the dignitaries of the Empire.

The followers of the different leaders were separately arranged and accommodated,as room and circumstances best permitted,each retaining however his henchman,who waited,close as the shadow,upon his person,to execute whatever might be required by his patron.

The exterior of the castle afforded a singular scene.The Highlanders,from different islands,glens,and straths,eyed each other at a distance with looks of emulation,inquisitive curiosity,or hostile malevolence;but the most astounding part of the assembly,at least to a Lowland ear,was the rival performance of the bagpipers.These warlike minstrels,who had the highest opinion,each,of the superiority of his own tribe,joined to the most overweening idea of the importance connected with his profession,at first,performed their various pibrochs in front each of his own clan.At length,however,as the black-cocks towards the end of the season,when,in sportsman's language,they are said to flock or crowd,attracted together by the sound of each others'triumphant crow,even so did the pipers,swelling their plaids and tartans in the same triumphant manner in which the birds ruffle up their feathers,begin to approach each other within such distance as might give to their brethren a sample of their skill.Walking within a short interval,and eyeing each other with looks in which self-importance and defiance might be traced,they strutted,puffed,and plied their screaming instruments,each playing his own favourite tune with such a din,that if an Italian musician had lain buried within ten miles of them,he must have risen from the dead to run out of hearing.