Rollo in Scotland Part 18

George and Rollo went to the castle alone. But Waldron made Rollo promise that in the evening he would come to the hotel and see him, and tell him what he saw there.

In the evening, accordingly, Rollo went to the hotel where Mr. Kennedy was staying. Mr. George went with him. They went first into Mr.

Kennedy's parlor. A door was open between the parlor and one of the bedrooms, and both rooms were full of trunks and parcels. Every body was busy packing and arranging. The ladies were showing each other their different purchases, as they came in from the shops; and as soon as Mr.

George entered, they began to ask him whether he thought they would be obliged to pay duty on this, or on that, when they arrived in America.

Rollo asked where Waldron was, and they said he was in his room, packing his trunk. So Rollo went to find him.

"Ah, Rollo," said Waldron, "I am glad you have come. I want you to sit on the top of my trunk with me, and make it shut down."

Rollo gave Waldron the a.s.sistance he required, and by the conjoined gravity of both the boys the trunk was made to shut. Waldron turned the key in an instant, and then said,--

"There! Get open again if you can. And now, Rollo," he continued, "tell me about the castle."

"Well, we had a very good time visiting it," said Rollo. "We went over the bridge where you and I stopped to look down to the market, and came to High Street. But instead of turning down, as we did when we were going to Holyrood, we turned _up_; because, you know, the castle is on the top of the hill."

"Yes," said Waldron, "I knew that was the way."

"Well, we went up High Street," continued Rollo. "The upper part of it is quite a handsome street. There were a great many large public buildings. We pa.s.sed by a great cathedral, where, they said, a woman threw a stool at the minister, while he was preaching."

"What did she do that for?" asked Waldron.

"I don't know," said Rollo. "I suppose she did not like his preaching.

It was in the reformation times. I believe he was preaching Popery, and she was a Protestant. Her name was Jenny Geddes. They have got the stool now."

"They have?" exclaimed Waldron.

"Yes," said Rollo, "so uncle George said. They keep it in the Antiquarian Museum, for a curiosity."

"When we got to the upper end of the High Street," continued Rollo, "there was the castle all before us. Only first there was a parade ground for the troops; it was all gravelled over."

"Were there any soldiers there?" asked Waldron.

"Yes," said Rollo, "there were two or three companies drilling and parading."

"I should like to have seen them," said Waldron.

"Yes," said Rollo, "and besides, the parade ground was a splendid place.

The lower end of it was towards the street; the upper end was towards the gates and walls of the castle, and the two sides of it were shut in by a low wall, built on the very brink of the precipice. You could look down over this wall into the streets of the lower part of the town; and then we could see off a great way, over all the country.

"We stopped a little while to look at the view, and then we turned round and looked at the soldiers a little while longer, and then we went on.

Presently we came to the castle gates. There was a sentinel on guard, and some soldiers walking to and fro on the ramparts above; but they did not say any thing to us, and so we went in. There were other parties of ladies and gentlemen going in too."

"Well," said Waldron, "what did you see when you got in?"

"Why, we were yet only inside the walls," said Rollo, "and so we kept going on up a steep road paved with stones. There were walls, and towers, and battlements, and bastions, and soldiers walking sentry, and cannons pointed at us, all around. Presently we came to a sort of bridge. Here we heard some music. It seemed down below; so we went to the side of the bridge and looked over. There was a little square field below, and three men, with Scotch bagpipes, playing together. The men were dressed in uniform, and the bagpipes were splendid-looking instruments."

"Yes," said Waldron. "They were the musicians of some Highland regiment, practising."

"Well; we went on, higher and higher," said Rollo, "and continued going round and round, till, at last, we came to the upper part of the castle, where there were platforms, and cannons upon them, pointing out over all the country round about."

"Did you see Mons Meg?" asked Waldron.

"Yes," said Rollo, "and we went up close to it. But we did not touch it, for there was a notice put up that visitors must not touch the guns.

"By and by we came into a large square court, with buildings, that looked like barracks, all about it. There was a sign up, with a hand on it pointing, and the words, 'To the crown room.' So we knew that that was the place where we were to go. Besides, all the other ladies and gentlemen were going there, too.

"We gave up our tickets at the door, and went up a short flight of steps, into a little sort of cellar."

"A little sort of cellar!" exclaimed Waldron. He was surprised at the idea of going up stairs into a cellar.

"Yes," said Rollo. "It was just like a cellar. It had stone walls all around it, and was arched overhead."

"Was it dark?" asked Waldron.

"O, no," said Rollo; "it was lighted up splendidly with gas. The gas shone very bright in between the bars of the cage, and brightened up the crown and the jewels wonderfully."

"In the cage?" repeated Waldron; "was there a cage?"

"Yes," replied Rollo. "In the middle of the room there was a great iron cage, as high as my head, and big in proportion. The crown and the jewels were in the cage, on cus.h.i.+ons. They were so far in that people could not reach them by putting their hands through the bars. There were a great many persons standing all around the cage, and looking in to see the crown and the jewels."

"Were they pretty?" asked Waldron.

"Not very," said Rollo. "I suppose the things were made of gold; but I could not tell, from the looks of them, whether they were made of gold or bra.s.s."

"Was there any thing else?" asked Waldron.

"Yes," said Rollo, "there was a monstrous oak chest,--iron bound, or bra.s.s bound,--where the crown and jewels were hid away for a great many years. At the time when Scotland was united to England, they put these things in this chest; and they were left there so long that at last there was n.o.body that knew where they were. Finally the government began to look for them, and they looked in this old chest, and there they found them.

"While we were looking at the chest," continued Rollo, "I heard some music out in the court, and I asked uncle George to let me go out; and he did. I was very glad I did, for the Highland regiment was paraded in the court. I stood there some time to see them exercised."

"Did they look well?" asked Waldron.

"Beautifully," said Rollo.

After this, Rollo gave Waldron some further accounts of what he saw at the castle; but before he got quite through with his descriptions Mr.

George came, and said it was time for them to go home. So they both bade Waldron good by. Rollo said, however, that it was not his final good by.

"I shall come down to the station to-morrow morning," said he, "and see you go."

Waldron was very much pleased to hear this, and then Mr. George and Rollo went away.

CHAPTER XVI.

CONCLUSION.