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
"Yes, sir, by mine. This night at twelve o'clock he will be without the
prison walls, and at liberty, and you must then do him the last service
he is ever likely to require at your hands. You will have a chaise
waiting at the hour I have mentioned, at the first mile-stone on the
Greenock road. Will you do this, and save the life of your unfortunate
friend?"
Although a good deal confused by the suddenness and singularity of the
whole affair, I, without a moment's hesitation or reflection, replied
that I would; and, having made this promise, I asked my visiter if she
would further confide in me, by telling me all the particulars connected
with the proposed escape of my friend.
"Not now--not now," she said, gathering a tartan plaid, which she wore,
round her, as if to depart; "but you will probably learn all afterwards.
In the meantime, farewell! and, as you would have a friend do to you in
similar circumstances, so do you to your friend. Be faithful to your
promise."
And, ere I could make any further remark, or put any other question, she
hurried out of the apartment, hastily opened the street door, rushed
out, and disappeared.
Interrupting this personal narrative for a time, we will shift the
scene, on the eventful night in question--eventful, at least, to the
unfortunate subject of our story--to the house of the jailer in whose
custody he was; and here we shall find, in the capacity of a domestic
servant, a young woman, bearing a very striking resemblance to her who
visited M'Intyre's friend, as above described. Indeed, there can be no
doubt that they are the same. It was the jailer's custom, at this time,
to make the rounds of the prison precisely at nine o'clock every night,
to see that all was secure; and when this survey was completed, to carry
all the keys with him to his own house, which was included in the
general building, and had interior communication with that portion of it
where prisoners were confined. On bringing up the keys, as usual, on the
night of which we are speaking, the jailer gave them in charge to his
wife, as he was invited out to join a party of friends on some occasion
of merry-making--a circumstance which had been previously known to his
family, and, amongst the rest, to the servant girl a short while since
alluded to. Having received the keys from her husband, the jailer's wife
carried them to her own bedroom for greater safety, and there deposited
them in a drawer. In less than two hours after, this drawer was
secretly visited by the young woman just spoken of, and a particular key
carefully selected, detached from the rest, and transferred from the
drawer in which it had lain into her pocket, when she withdrew with her
prize. Shortly after this, the jailer returned, and retired to bed. When
the whole was still, the purloiner of the key might have been seen
stealing, with cautious steps, down the staircase that led into the
principal passage of the prison, where were stationed two turnkeys--one
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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