When the hymn had died away with all its echoes, the voice of one of the sable personages under whose guard the adept had remained, said, in a familiar tone and dialect, ``Dear sirs, Mr.Dousterswivel, is this you? could not ye have let us ken an ye had wussed till hae been present at the ceremony?--My lord couldna tak it weel your coming blinking and jinking in, in that fashion.''
``In de name of all dat is gootness, tell me what you are?''
interrupted the German in his turn.
``What I am? why, wha should I be but Ringan Aikwood, the Knockwinnock poinder?--and what are ye doing here at this time o' night, unless ye were come to attend the leddy's burial?''
``I do declare to you, mine goot Poinder Aikwood,'' said the German, raising himself up, ``that I have been this vary nights murdered, robbed, and put in fears of my life.''
``Robbed! wha wad do sic a deed here?--Murdered! od ye speak pretty blithe for a murdered man--Put in fear! what put you in fear, Mr.Dousterswivel?''
``I will tell you, Maister Poinder Aikwood Ringan, just dat old miscreant dog villain blue-gown, as you call Edie Ochiltrees.''
``I'll neer believe that,'' answered Ringan;--``Edie was ken'd to me, and my father before me, for a true, loyal, and sooth-fast man; and, mair by token, he's sleeping up yonder in our barn, and has been since ten at e'en--Sae touch ye wha liket, Mr.Dousterswivel, and whether onybody touched ye or no, I'm sure Edie's sackless.''
``Maister Ringan Aikwood Poinders, I do not know what you call sackless,--but let alone all de oils and de soot dat you say he has, and I will tell you I was dis night robbed of fifty pounds.
by your oil and sooty friend, Edies Ochiltree; and he is no more in your barn even now dan I ever shall be in de kingdom of heafen.''
``Weel, sir, if ye will gae up wi' me, as the burial company has dispersed, we'se mak ye down a bed at the lodge, and we'se see if Edie's at the barn.There was twa wild-looking chaps left the auld kirk when we were coming up wi' the corpse, that's certain;and the priest, wha likes ill that ony heretics should look on at our church ceremonies, sent twa o' the riding saulies after them; sae we'll hear a' about it frae them.''
Thus speaking, the kindly apparition, with the assistance of the mute personage, who was his son, disencumbered himself of his cloak, and prepared to escort Dousterswivel to the place of that rest which the adept so much needed.
``I will apply to the magistrates to-morrow,'' said the adept;``oder, I will have de law put in force against all the peoples.''
While he thus muttered vengeance against the cause of his injury, he tottered from among the ruins, supporting himself on Ringan and his son, whose assistance his state of weakness rendered very necessary.
When they were clear of the priory, and had gained the little meadow in which it stands, Dousterswivel could perceive the torches which had caused him so much alarm issuing in irregular procession from the ruins, and glancing their light, like that of the _ignis fatuus,_ on the banks of the lake.After moving along the path for some short space with a fluctuating and irregular motion, the lights were at once extinguished.
``We aye put out the torches at the Halie-cross Well on sic occasions,'' said the forester to his guest.And accordingly no farther visible sign of the procession offered itself to Dousterswivel, although his ear could catch the distant and decreasing echo of horses' hoofs in the direction towards which the mourners had bent their course.