"Och! if I had but kent; if I had but kent! To think that I might
hae been watchin' them instead o' speerin' round yon hoose o' yours,
watchin' to wring yer secret frae ye, an' aidin' yer enemies in their
wark. First the outland man wi' the dark hair; an' then them along wi'
the black man wi' the evil face that sought ye the nicht gone. Wae is
me! Wae is me! that I ha' done harm to a' in the frenzy o' my lust, and
greed, and curiosity!" She took on so badly that I tried to comfort her.
I succeeded to a measure, when I had pointed out that the carrying off
of Marjory was altogether a different matter from what had gone on in my
house. Suddenly she stopped rocking herself to and fro; holding up one
long gaunt arm as I had seen her do several times before, she said:
"But what matters it after a'! We're in the hands o' Fate! An' there are
Voices that speak an' Een that see. What is ordered of old will be done
for true; no matter how we may try to work our own will. 'Tis little use
to kick against the pricks."
Then all at once she became brisk and alert. In a most practical tone of
voice she said:
"Noo tell me what I can dae! Weel I ken, that ye hae a plan o' yer ain;
an' that you and ithers are warkin' to an end that ye hae set. Ye hae
one ither wi' ye the nicht; for gude or ill." She paused, and I asked
her:
"Why did you go down the sheep path to the Haven. For what or for whom
were you looking?"
"I was lookin' for the treasure that I suspect was ta'en frae your
hoose; an' for them that took it! 'Twas I that guided them, after the
dark man had gone; and watched whiles they were within. Then they sent
me on a lang errand away to Ellon; and when I got back there was nane
there. I speered close, and saw the marks o' a cairt heavy loaden. It
was lost on the high road; an' since then, nicht an' day hae I sought
for any trace; but all in vain. But I'm thinkin' that it's nigh to here
they've hid it; I went down the yowes' roadie, an' alang the rock, an'
up the bit beach; but never a sign did I see. There's a many corners
aboot the crags here, where a muckle treasure might lie hid, an' nane
the wiser save them that pit it there!" Whilst she was talking I was
scribbling a line in my pocket-book; I tore out the page and handed it
to her:
"If you would help me take that letter for I must not leave here. Give
it to the dark gentleman whom you know by sight. He is somewhere on the
rocks beyond the Castle." My message was to tell Don Bernardino that I
believed the treasure was hidden somewhere near me, and that the bearer
of the note would guide him if he thought wise to join me.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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