Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 07
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 07
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
"I thanked him kindly for his assurance, and said it would be my
endeavour to deserve his friendship. He was soon after removed below,
and I did not see him until we reached the Thames, and were moored at
the Isle of Dogs. The captain, who was part owner, went into furnished
lodgings while we were delivering our cargo, being still unable to walk,
from the dislocation of his ankle. The greater part of the crew also
lodged on shore; but I remained on board with the mate, in charge of the
vessel, and often went to the captain with letters and messages. In one
of my visits, he desired me to be seated, and give him an account of
myself, as he said he had taken an interest in my welfare, and wished to
serve me, agreeably to his promise, if I continued to deserve it. I gave
him a full detail of my life until I came to the encounter I had
witnessed between him and his opponent, when I stopped. 'Nay, young
man,' said he,'I wish to hear an account of what you were witness of,
from your own mouth.' I went on. He heard me with composure, until I
mentioned the tearing off the ring from his finger. When I came to this
part of the narrative, his countenance became distorted with rage; he
ground his teeth, and stamped upon the floor; his eyes flashed fire, and
his passion seemed too great for utterance. I looked on in silence,
fearful that, from his weakness, he would fall into a fit. At length, he
said, as if in deep abstraction, and unconscious of my presence--
"'Faithless Eliza! I thought I had cast it at thy feet in my agony of
blighted hopes, and felt pleased. It was my intention; but my mind was
a chaos of misery. The traitor Wallace has got the pledge of the love
you proved false to. Would that his sword had pierced the heart his
treachery has rendered miserable! No; I shall meet him once again, and
one of us shall die----'
"Then starting to his feet, he supported himself upon the back of a
chair, his countenance no longer distorted with rage, having changed
into a settled, resolute cast, calm and stern. His burst of emotion had
passed away.
"'Square,' he said, 'you, like myself, have no tie to bind you to
Scotland, no relation or friend on earth; we are as if we had dropped
from some distant planet, now desolate of inhabitants, into this busy
world. Still I must ever remember that any happiness I ever enjoyed was
in Edinburgh; and my heart's cherished hopes--hopes that have cheered my
way through toil and danger--were there for ever crushed by the subtle
arts of one I thought my friend. Base wretch! you shall not long exult
in your villany! Square, you must accompany me back to Edinburgh, as
soon as I am able to use this limb with vigour. Do you agree to
accompany me?'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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