Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 14
General
Wilson's Tales of the Borders and of Scotland, Volume 14
Scottish Borders (Scotland) -- Fiction
Two nights afterwards, when William Glenday returned home about ten
o'clock at night, he was told that Mary had gone out; and the servant
said she thought there was some strange noise at the window before she
departed. Her father was now satisfied that she had left the house to
meet John, and resolved to go himself and ascertain the truth of his
suspicions. He went and called at John's house; and having found that he
had not yet come in, went away to the darkest parts of the
neighbourhood, to see if he could discover whither they had gone. He had
not proceeded far when he met two men carrying a female. This was his
daughter, in a state of insensibility. She was supported by John and
another person. They conveyed her to the house; and having applied some
stimulants, she recovered. William Glenday, with much asperity, blamed
young Connal for not acting honourably towards his daughter, whose
affections he said he was trampling on. The other defended himself as
far as he could, without betraying Mary. He said he had met the stranger
bearing her in his arms, and that he assisted him merely in carrying her
homewards. The stranger, on his part, said he belonged to Leith, and
that, as he went along by the entry from the south back of the Canongate
to the Abbey, he saw the young woman standing with a man--that she was
supplicating him not to do something which he threatened to do;
whereupon he said, in a threatening and angry tone, that, unless she
yielded to him within an hour, he would lodge an information the next
day; and he swore that he would fulfil his threat. On his swearing, the
young girl fell into a swoon; and her companion suddenly disappeared on
seeing the narrator come up to her assistance. William Glenday could
make nothing of this story, and Mary refused to say anything in
explanation.
On the following day, two officers called at William Glenday's house,
and showed him a warrant for his apprehension upon a charge for the
murder of Peter Connal. Mary heard the statement of the men, and went
again into a swoon. When she recovered, her father had been taken to
prison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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