“Bring Helen to me, I am an impatient bridegroom. Shall I be
prevented from kissing my beautiful wife. She is mine, and who can
keep her from me? Helen, you are pale!”--and he sunk down, dead!
Alice could not utter a tone of lamentation. She longed to weep,
that her heart might be eased of her sorrow, but she could not. How
still were the lofty features of her father! In his fall, not a
single white hair had been disarranged, and his golden-headed cane
was firmly grasped in his hand. What a melancholy sight. A dead old
man, and yet a cane to support his steps, as if he could expect
that he should once more rise, and need its assistance! Alice
gently disengaged it from his grasp, and put her own hand in its
place, and thus, for hours, sat beside her dead father.
Katharine Norton, like a sister attempted to comfort her, but
her terms of consolation frequently assumed something of her
own heart’s sorrow, as she thought of James. Yet she was too
high-minded and heroic to condemn, even in her grief, the step
which he had taken.
* * * * *
Meanwhile the Pretender’s army was again marching through the
streets, and in front of it, was the Manchester regiment, under
the command of Colonel Townley. The Prince, on this occasion, was
attended by the renowned chieftain, Cameron of Lochiel, who was his
best and bravest supporter. His eagle eye glanced proudly upon all,
save on his master, and his full muscular form, was the pride and
boast of the clan, of which he was the head. They rode together,
between the Scottish and English troops. The inhabitants of all
the towns in Lancashire, through which the Pretender had passed,
trembled at the sight of his brave Highlanders, and it is reported,
that it was the general belief, that the bodies of infants formed
their repast after a victory. The good people of Manchester,
likewise, turned pale, at their fiery glance, and the easy and free
manner in which they at times, when any obstruction was made to
their progress, laid their hands upon the broad-sword, while they
placed their dirk between their teeth, thus awfully prepared to
resist and overcome. But their fiery spirits, were at that time,
altogether within the control of their young leader. They had not
a glance for all who crowded the streets and balconies; their eyes
when he was in view, were fixed upon the Chevalier. As they were
turning a street, a ball whizzed by his horse’s head, and an uproar
was excited. A detachment of troops, under Lochiel, who had spurred
forward instantly, as soon as the report of fire-arms was heard,
dashed down a lane, from which the smoke issued, and they returned
instantly, with the assassin. The soldiers raised a loud howl, as
if they wished to sacrifice the wretch, by tearing him to pieces.
He was brought before the Prince, whose face was a little flushed
by the incident, but who was perfectly composed.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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