"I say that I have seen it,--they are all to belong to thy house." "Niddisdale a' to pertain to my house!" "All." "Carle, I gie nae credit to sic forbodings; but I have heard something like this afore. Will ye stay till I bring my son Robin, the young Master of Mountcomyn, and let him hear it? For aince a man takes a mark on his way, I wadna hae him to tine sight o't. Mony a time has the tail o' the king's elwand pointed me the way to Cumberland; an' as often has the ee o' the Charlie-wain blinkit me hame again. A man's nae the waur o' a bit beacon o' some kind,--a bit hope set afore him, auld carle; an' the Nine Glens o' Niddisdale are nae Willie-an-the-Wisp in a lad's ee." "From Roxburgh castle to the tower of Sark,"-- "What's the auld-warld birkie saying?" "From the Deadwater-fell to the Linns of Cannoby,--from the Linns of Cannoby to the heights of Manor and the Deuchar-swire,--shall thy son, and the representatives of thy house, ride on their own lands." "May ane look at your foot, carle? Take off that huge wooden sandal, an it be your will." "Wherefore should I, knight?" "Because I dread ye are either the devil or Master Michael Scott." "Whoever I am, I am a friend to you and to yours, and have told you the words of truth. I have but one word more to say:--Act always in concert with the Douglasses, while they act in concert with the king your master,--not a day, nor an hour, nor a moment longer. It is thus, and thus alone, that you must rise and the Douglas fall. Remember the words of True Thomas,-- 'Quhane the wingit hors at his maistere sal wince, 'Let wyse men cheat the chevysance.'" "There is something mair about you than other folk, auld man. If ye be my kinsman, Michael Scott the warlock, I crave your pardon, Master; but if you are that dreadfu' carle--I mean that learned and wonderfu' man, why you are welcome to my castle. But you are not to turn my auld wife into a hare, Master, an' hunt her up an' down the hills wi' my ain grews; nor my callants into naigs to scamper about on i' the night-time when they hae ither occupations to mind. There is naething i' my tower that isna at your command; for, troth, I wad rather brow a' the Ha's and the Howard's afore I beardit you." "I set no foot in your halls, knight. This night is a night among many to me; and wo would be to me if any thing canopied my head save the cope of heaven. There are horoscopes to be read this night for a thousand years to come. One cake of your bread and one cup of your wine is all that the old wizard requests of you, and that he must have."