The Three Perils of Man Volume Ii Part 5

The Master accordingly entered the room, where his guests still sat round the board. All of them rose, and made obeisance; but, without returning the courtesy, he took his seat at the end of the table next to the door, and was just about to address them, when he was interrupted by Charlie Scott. There were two great individuals always uppermost in Charlie's mind,--these were his master the warden, and his horse Corby; and finding himself again in the Master's presence, and thinking he rather looked better pleased than he was wont, he judged it prudent not to let the opportunity slip: so, after scratching his head violently with both hands, he thus preferred his solicitation:

"Gude faith, Master Scott, I'm glad I hae seen you again; and, nae disparagement either to you or your house, Sir Knight, but the truth is, we canna bide here. For, in the first place, you see, our skins will gang to the bauks in a jiffey; and, in the next place, our captain, the warden, canna want us. It is far mair than our lives are worth for us to stay here; for, troth, Sir Master, the lives o' others depend on it.

Now, I wadna like that we were trowed to be corbie messengers. And that brings me a-mind, Sir Knight, how muckle need I hae to be at the mill down by there. I hae a friend at it that I fear is in nae good plight."

"Content you, gallant squire, for a s.p.a.ce," said the Master; "I do intend to answer the request of my n.o.ble kinsman with all expedition; but such things cannot be done in a moment. I must read the face of the heavens, and listen to the voices from the deep below. I have likewise a master to consult; he has another; and both are as perverse as h.e.l.l itself. Be content, therefore, and enjoy yourselves for the remainder of this day. Give me all your names that I may register them, and give me them truly."

Every one gave his name and designation, save that the poet gave the name of the lovely Delany with an encomium on her beauty and virtue. But Michael cared for none of those things. What appeared beautiful in the eyes of other men, to his were loathsomeness and deformity. Far different was the case when the friar announced his own name.

Michael started to his feet, and, with spread hands, and every feature of his countenance dilated with joy, he exclaimed, "What? Primate of Douay in France, and author of the Book of Arts?"

"The same, great Sir," said the friar: "I confide it to you: But haply thou dost not know, in this thy retired habitation, that men thirst for my blood; that I am a persecuted man, and have suffered imprisonments, bonds, wounds, yea, and tortures; that I have been hunted from nation to nation, and from land to land, until I found shelter and protection among these wild and reckless Borderers, a people that neither fear G.o.d nor regard man. With them have I taken up my abode. I am become a father to them, and they are as children unto me. I love them. But, if they should be induced to give me up, wo would be unto me!"

"What d' ye say, man?" said Charlie, grasping his hand. "D' ye think a Scot amang us wad gie you up? If there be sic a man in the Border array, he ought to be d--ned. But I trow I ken a bit o' the warden's mind there; and I can tell you, a' the pens and a' the rapiers in England wadna gar him gie up the gospel friar. Na, na; if ever he's gien up, he maun gie up himsel, and mak his ain conditions too."

"Great and notable Primate, you are welcome to this castle," said the Master; "whether by the t.i.tle of monk, prior, primate, or friar, I say you are welcome here. I have ridden a thousand miles to meet with you.

But that is long agone. I had heard of your great skill in the sublime arts, that surpa.s.s the comprehension of ordinary men, and I determined to stake my life on the trial of skill between us. I was disappointed in meeting with you, for you were not to be found, dead or alive. The days of my ambition are fled. My power has been acknowledged so long, none daring to contend with me, that indifference hath ensued; after that came disgust, and with it misery. Thou art the man of all the earth whose fame I have envied; and, if thou darest, I will contend with thee, for freedom or for life, which thou wilt. If thou art overcome, thou shalt be my bondsman and slave, and if thou conquerest I will submit to be thine."

"Lo, I will contend with thee even for name and being," said the friar.

"Of the strong-holds of sin and Satan am I not afraid. I have put the ministers of thy vengeance to flight already, and I will chase, yea, I will overcome and pursue them away; as chaff is driven before the wind, will I scatter them. Dare not to contend with me; for, if I judge aright, my Master holdeth thine in chains, and if I interfere thou canst do nothing. I judge it therefore best to contend as brothers contend. To admire what is truly great, and deride that which is insignificant. Mine are the arts of peace, truth, and righteousness, and I hoped thine were the same."

"Why, art thou not a monk, a follower of the wretched maniac, Benedict of Padua? that driveller in hidden mysteries?" said the Master. "I do not rightly comprehend thee, or by what power thou didst thwart my servants. Tell me in one word,--Art thou not in combination with the potent elemental spirits that rule and controul the earth, the air, the fire, and the waters? If not, thy arts are superficial and worthless."

"Thou shalt see, and thou shalt judge," said the friar: "I am not ashamed of that I can do." And with that he went and brought up his huge portmanteau, in which he always carried many a small and curious apparatus; but these he kept carefully concealed, having suffered so much from the superst.i.tions of bigotted and illiterate men, in the course of his profound researches. He was the greatest chemist that had ever appeared on the stage of existence; yet that curious and refined art was he obliged carefully to conceal, having been persecuted as a necromancer over every kingdom of southern Europe.

When he went away Charlie Scott was terribly in the fidgets. He expected instantly to witness the raising of the devil, and other infernal spirits, against whom he cherished the most inveterate dislike. His eyes began to set in his head, and the roof of his mouth became so dry that he could not p.r.o.nounce words distinctly.

"Gude faith, Sir Master," said he, "I dinna appruve of a man setting up his birse, and braving a gentleman in his ain house. And, wi' your permission, I hae something o' great importance to do at the mill; sae I'll e'en step down that length, and I shall come up again' the morning by day-light."

"Please to remain with your friends, good yeoman," said the Master: "You shall witness something worth your while. What can you possibly have to do at the mill?"

"Muckle, muckle to do at the mill, Sir Knight; I'll just refer it to yoursel,--can either man or beast leeve wanting drink?"

"I beg your pardon," said the Master: "I had almost forgot my princ.i.p.al errand. Gourlay, fill me a gla.s.s of the wine of Palestine."

The steward did as he was ordered; and the Master, taking the cup, drank to the health of his kinsman, the warden, and all his friends. Every one of his guests did the same, save the maiden and boy; and every eye was cleared, and every heart warmed, for the liquor was as strong as brandy.

"Weel, Sir Knight," said Charlie, "that is what ane wad ca' rather stiff st.u.r.dy drink; I hae nae tasted ought as weel worth the drinking: And if ye will just gar auld Crossgrains come ower us again, I think I could even prevail on mysel' to face the deil, and let Corby tak his chance."

The request was instantly complied with. Each of them got another cup; and the friar having tarried a while to put his affairs in order, when he came back the tongues of all his companions were going at once, and he was apprehensive that they were bewitched. He, however, took the pledge in one full cup, and was greatly revived by it; but refused taking another at that time.

The room in which they sat was lighted by four windows: those to the east and west were small circular ones, having a pane of bright gla.s.s in each: those to the north and south were merely long slits in the wall, without any gla.s.s; and the first thing the friar did, before producing the specimens of his art, was to close up all these windows, so as to exclude the light of day, and the gla.s.s of the western one he either contrived to remove, subst.i.tuting another in its place, or else he put another piece of magnifying gla.s.s over it.

When he began a-closing up the last, Charlie entered a vehement protest against it, on the ground that no body would see what he did, or what he raised, and any one might be seized by the neck ere ever he was aware, by some o' his infernal deils.

"I hate a' surprises," added he; "It's best keeping the crown o' the fell, and seeing weel about ane. Room to fight and room to flee, an ye like, Maister Gospel-friar. Wha do you think's gaun to play at hide-and-seek wi' the deil in sic a place as this?"

The Master, in a sneering manner, requested that the great enchanter might have his own way: and Charlie, whose tongue was a little loosed by the wine of Palestine, was at last restrained, though not without a good deal of grumbling and fidgetting. The room was darkened; the friar went into a small alcove, and, by the help of a magic lanthorn, a thing never before seen in Scotland, he raised up a tremendous and horrid figure on the wall. It was of gigantic size; its eyes, lips, and paws moved; and its body was thrown into various contortions.

All were in breathless silence on the appearance of this extraordinary shade; but among the darkling group there was distinctly heard one whose breathing was frequently cut short, as if something had been choking him, or seizing him by the throat.

After the apparition had gone through its various evolutions, all apparently at the further end of the apartment, it fixed its eyes, clenched its teeth, and, stretching forth its claws, it appeared to make a spring forward at the party.

"Aih! L--d be here!" cried Charlie in a trumpet voice, and threw himself flat down behind the rest. Hearing that some of them laughed at the fright he had got, he ventured to speak and expostulate a little; but no curiosity could induce him to raise his face from the floor, or open his eyes again while the friar's exhibition continued. "Lair him, lair him, friar!" cried he,--"or, od, I's be about your lugs some day for this.

Lair him, lair him, in the name of St Michael! and if that winna do, try him wi' Peter--he'll send him ower the battlements like a shot. O good friar, whatever ye do, lair him!"

The friar went on with his phantasmagoria. The figure, after giving a s.h.i.+ver or two, was parted into three, all of the same form and size, but all making different motions, and different contortions of feature.

The three were afterwards parted into six, which, among other grotesque feats, danced a reel, and, on running thro' it, every one threw itself heels-over-head. The group of onlookers laughed outright at this, notwithstanding their astonishment, and called to Charlie to look. But he would not move his face from the earth, and only asked, in a half-suffocated voice, "Is he no laired yet? Od I shall be about wi'

that cursed body for his tricks."

When the friar had concluded this feat, he put out his small lanthorn, took the machinery out of it, concealing it beneath his ample frock, and again opened all the windows.

Charlie got up, and running to one of the loop-holes, "Gude be thankit, I'll get a cooke o' the air o' heaven again!" said he, "for I hae been breathing fire and brimstone this while byegane. Foul befa' me gin ever I saw the like o' yon; I was sair dumfoundered,--but wha could stand afore the face of a fiery giant?"

The friar's a.s.sociates looked at the lanthorn, examining it with curious eyes, but perceived nothing about it which could in any way account for the apparition they had seen. Master Michael Scott did not deign to ask a sight of it, but paced over the floor in sullen and thoughtful mood.

The seneschal stood fixed to the spot on which he had witnessed the phenomenon, with his heavy unmoving eyes turned towards his master. He seemed dubious whether he was vanquished or not. The Master at length spoke, addressing the friar:--

"I hope, right wors.h.i.+pful Primate, this is not the extent of your knowledge and power in the sublime art of divination? The whole is only a delusion,--a shadow,--a phantom, calculated to astonish women or children. I acknowledge it to be ingenious; still it is nothing. You multiplied your shadows, turning three into six; now, if I turn three men into six living, breathing, substantial beings, will you acknowledge yourself outdone?"

"Certes, I will," said the friar.

"Away, then, with deception," said the Master: "What I do, I do in the open eye of day.--Stand forth three of you."

"Master Michael Scott, I'll tell you what it is," said Charlie, "I solemnly protest against being parted into twa."

"You shall neither suffer nor feel the least inconvenience by the change, brave yeoman," said the Master; "therefore be not afraid, but stand forth."

Charlie hung his head to one side in a deep reverie, till at length his countenance lightened up by degrees, his features opening into a broad smile.

"I'll tell you what it is, Sir Knight," said he, "if you will a.s.sure me that baith o' us shall be as stout and as wight chaps as I am mysel e'en now, gude faith, I dinna care though ye mak me into twa, for my master the warden's sake. If you could double an army that gate, it wad be a great matter. I doubt sair I'll cast out wi' my t.i.ther half about something that I ken o', and that's Corby; but I'll run the risk. Nane o' your cutfing and cleaving, however, Sir Knight. Nane o' your imps wi'

their lang-kail gully knives again."

Charlie stepped up the floor, and took his stand with his back at the wall, to await doggedly this multiplication of himself. Tam soon joined him: but there was a hard contest between Gibbie and the poet, both of whom were rather personal cowards, and both alike averse to such experiments. The former was at length obliged to yield, for Carol clung so close to the maid, that nothing could induce him to part from her; and, ever since the friar gave him the grievous overthrow, he had lost all confidence in his personal prowess.

Michael stamped thrice with his heel, and spoke some words in an unknown tongue, in a low muttering tone; but some of them heard the sounds of Prig, Prim, and p.r.i.c.ker. There was a momentary confusion in the apartment. A darkening haze flashed over it, and blinded the eyes of men for a short s.p.a.ce; the floor gave a shake, as if it had sunk down a little,--and there stood two of each of the three friends, so completely alike that no one knew who was who.

No scene could be more truly ludicrous than the one which now ensued; each man turned to his prototype, and the looks of confusion and astonishment in both being the same, the beholders were seized with irrepressible laughter.

Charlie felt his legs, thighs, and ribs, if they remained the same as before. The other boardly personage in the same shape followed his example, and added, "Gude faith, the like o' this I saw never!"

"You may weel say't," said the other; "But let me see if you can draw that lang sword as weel an' as cleverly as I can do."

"Gude Lord, hear til him!" said the first: "He's speaking as he were the true Charlie Scott himsel! Speak ye, friend: Were you me before this!

That, is, did you ride with the warden over the border?"

"I am sure if you were there, I never saw you before," said the second speaker; "But I dinna ken what I am saying; for the truth is I dinna comprehend this."

With that they again gazed at each other, and looked over their shoulders, as if they would not have cared to have fled from one another's presence.