tinued Waverley, following up his first attack.

* G

Ay, the aits will be got bravely in; but the farmers, deil burst them, and the corn-mongers, will make the auld price gude against them as has horses till keep." "You perhaps act as quarter-master,

sir "

Ay, quarter-master, riding-master, and lieutenant. And, to be sure, whae's fitter to look after the breaking and the keeping of the poor beasts than mysell, that bought and sold every one of them ?" "And, pray, sir, if it be not too great a freedom, may I beg to know where we are going just now?"

"A fule's errand, I fear," answered this communicative personage.

"In that case, I should have thought a person of your appearance would not have been found upon the road."

"Vera true, vera true, sir,-but every why has its wherefore; ye maun ken

the laird there bought a' thir beasts frae me to munt his troop, and agreed to pay for them according to the necessities and prices of the time. But then he had na the ready penny, and I hae been advised his bond will no be worth a boddle against the estate, and then I had a' my dealers to settle with at Martinmas; and so as he very kindly offered me this commission, and as the auld Fifteen wad never help me to my siller for sending out naigs against the government, why, conscience! sir, I thought my best chance for payment was e'en to gae out mysell; and ye may judge, sir, as I hae dealt a' my life in halters, I think nae mickle o' putting my craig in peril of a St Johnstone's tippet."

1

"You are not, then, by profession a soldier?"

"Na, na, thank God," answered this doughty partizan, "I was na bred at sae short a tether; I was brought up to hack and manger: I was bred a horse-couper, sir; and if I might live to see you at Whit

son-tryst, or at Stagshaw-bank, or the winter fair at Hawick, and ye wanted a spanker that would lead the field, I'se be caution I would serve ye easy, for Jamie Jinker was ne'er the lad to impose upon a gentleman. Ye're a gentleman, sir, and should ken a horse's points; ye see that throughganging thing that Balmawhapple's on; I selled her till him. She was bred out of Lick-the-Ladle, which wan the king's plate at Caverton-Edge, by Duke Hamilton's Dusty-Foot," &c. &c. &c.

But as Jinker was entered full sail upon the pedigree of Balmawhapple's mare, ha ving already got as far as great grandsire, and grand-dam, and while Waverley was watching for an opportunity to obtain from him intelligence of more interest, the noble captain checked his horse until they came up, and then, without directly appearing to notice Edward, said sternly to the genealogist, "I thought, lieutenant, my orders were precise, that no one should speak to the prisoner ?"

The metamorphosed horse-dealer was silenced, of course, and slunk to the rear, where he consoled himself by entering into a vehement dispute upon the price of hay with a farmer, who had reluctantly followed his laird to the field, rather than give up his farm, whereof the lease had just expired. Waverley was therefore once more consigned to silence, foreseeing that farther attempts at conversation with any of the party would only give Balmawhapple a wished-for opportunity to display the insolence of authority, and the sulky spite of a temper naturally dogged, and rendered more so by habits of low indulgence and the incense of servile adulation.

In about two hours time, the party were near the Castle of Stirling, over whose battlements the union flag was brightening as it waved in the evening sun. To shorten his journey, or perhaps to display his importance and insult the English garrison, Balmawhapple, inclining to the right, took his route through the royal

park, which reaches to and surrounds the rock upon which the fortress is situated.

With a mind more at ease, Waverley could not have failed to admire the mixture of romance and beauty which renders interesting the scene through which he. was now passing-the field which had been the scene of the tournaments of old

-the rock from which the ladies beheld the contest, while each made vows for the success of some favourite knight-the towers of the Gothic church where these vows might be paid-and, surmounting all, the fortress itself, at once a castle and a palace, where valour received the prize, from royalty, and knights and dames closed the evening amid the revelry of the dance, the song, and the feast. and the feast. All these were objects fitted to arouse and interest a romantic imagination.

But Waverley had other subjects of meditation, and an incident soon occurred of a nature to disturb meditation of any kind. Balmawhapple, in the pride of his heart,