In his etching Mr George Cruikshank has effectively represented the strange interview between Hobbie Elliott and the Dwarf. It is described by the novelist. "The Dwarf turned his rage on the young farmer, and by a sudden effort, far more powerful than Hobbie expected from such a person, freed his wrist from his grasp, and offered the dagger at his heart All this was done in the twinkling of an eye, and the incensed recluse might have completed his vengeance by plunging the weapon in Elliott's bosom, had he not been checked by an internal impulse, which made him hurl the knife at a distance. 'No! he exclaimed, as he voluntarily deprived himself of the means of gratifying his rage; 'not again-not again!' Hobbie retreated a step or two in great surprise, discomposure, and disdain, at having been placed in such danger by an object apparently so contemptible, exclaiming, 'The deil's in the body, for strength and bitterness!'" [Illustration: 053] [Illustration: 054-55] THE HEART OF MID-LOTHIAN. THE HEART OF MID-LOTHIAN, one of the most popular of the Waverley novels, appeared in June 1818. It is founded on the well-known incident of Helen Walker, a woman in humble life, who refused to save her sister's life when it rested upon her oath, but who, after her sister's condemnation, undertook a foot journey to London, where, from the Duke of Argyll, she procured a pardon and returned with it, again on foot, in time to stay the execution. The accompanying illustration represents the death of Captain Porteous, a leading event in the novel. The scene depicted is the Grassmarket of Edinburgh. The opening to the right is the Cowgate, near which Porteous was hanged. Beyond is Edinburgh Castle, occupying the summit of the lofty rock which rises precipitously above the houses of the Old Town. The mob having ascertained that the sentence of death passed upon Captain Porteous would not be carried out, resolved to become his executioners themselves; and bursting the prison doors, seized on the unfortunate officer, whom they hurried to the place of execution. While a gibbet was being prepared, Butler, the clergyman who had been pressed into the service of the mob, endeavoured to dissuade them from their desperate design. Porteous protested that what he had done fell out in self-defence, in the lawful exercise of his duty; but the enraged multitude were determined on his destruction. Separated from the unhappy victim by the press, Butler hastened from the spot, and casting back a terrified glance, discovered a figure struggling as it hung suspended above the heads of the multitude, and could observe men striking at it with their axes. *****