Achanna marched on this lawless mission; but true to his infamous nature, he preferred fraud to force. Raeberry, of which there now remains but a deep fosse, overhung a dreadful precipice, on the bluffs of which the united waves of the Solway Frith and the Atlantic pour their fury. It was deemed impregnable, and was protected on the north by a strong rampart, a drawbridge, and a deep trench. Achanna, aware of these difficulties on one side, and perils on all the rest, seduced one of the warders – a man in whom MacLellan trusted most – by promising, that if he would leave the secret postern open, "for a single hour, upon a certain night, he should have a ladleful of gold."
The wretch agreed. The wicket was left unbarred, Achanna and his band rushed in, overpowered the inmates of Raeberry, and dragged Sir Thomas from bed, severely wounding his nephew, William MacLellan, a brave boy, who fought to save him. On finding that he had been betrayed by his most trusted servant, and to the Douglases, Sir Thomas exclaimed in the bitterness of his heart, —
"Wretch – oh, wretch! mayest thou live to feel the despair that wrung the heart of Judas when he flung to the accursed Jews their thirty pieces of silver."
At these words, the abashed warder shrunk back, but the hireling Achanna laughed loudly, and ordering his prisoner to be bound with cords, conveyed him on horseback to Thrave, where the imperious Douglas, after loading him with fetters, insults, and opprobrium, thrust him into the dungeon.
"All these outrages, to a steward of our stewardry – a loyal knight and baron – the Lieutenant of our Guard!" exclaimed the king, in mingled tones of regret and rage; "verily the time has come for me to exchange my crown either for a helmet, or for the tonsure of a shaven friar. And this dog of a warder – "
"Met with the stipulated reward of his treachery, and in a manner little to his liking, on presenting himself next evening at Thrave to receive the promised bribe."
"'Thou shalt have it, false limmer, – every farthing, – yea, godspenny and principal,' said Douglas, sternly; 'though in a way, I trow, but little to your advantage.'"
"'How, my lord?'" asked the trembling wretch.
"'Molten hot, and poured down your dog's-throat, to warn my warders of Thrave what they may expect if they so betrayed me, and not to sleep with their doors unlatched. Away with him to the kitchen, and let this be his doom!'"
"In vain did the wretch shriek for mercy on his bended knees; he was dragged to the kitchen of the castle, and there the commands of the earl were literally and awfully obeyed. The skimming-ladle of the great pot was filled with new gold lions (each of which had the image of St. Andrew on one side, and a lion rampant on the other); after being molten to a seething mass, they were poured down the throat of the warder, and in ten minutes after, his mutilated corpse was flung into the gallows slot."[3]
CHAPTER XLIV
THE BOND
Let never man be bold enough to say —
Thus, and no further, shall my passion stray;
The first crime past compels us into more,
And guilt grows fate, that was but choice before.
The silence of a minute was, perhaps, the most severe comment which followed this story of more than Oriental barbarity. Indignation made the fiery young king almost speechless. He snatched from the table one of those Beauvais goblets, which were then greatly esteemed and were mounted with silver-gilt. It was full of water, and he drank it thirstily.
"My brave kinsman – so young, so faithful, and so merry!" exclaimed Sir Patrick Gray, with more of grief than anger in his tone; "I would give my life to save his; for it must be in imminent peril."
"No such sacrifice will be necessary," said the king; "we shall write to this daring lord, commanding him at once, on peril of his allegiance, to yield up Sir Thomas MacLellan of Bombie to our messenger, and set him forth of Thrave."
"But who," asked the chancellor, "will be daring enough to bear such a message into the wilds of Galloway, beyond the land of the Annandale thieves?"
"That will I, and blithely, too: MacLellan would do as much for me," replied Sir Patrick, with energy.
"Reflect, my friend; a royal herald were safer," said the king. "You are the enemy of Douglas in more ways than one."
"How, your highness? I am not wont to reflect much in time of peril."
"True, Sir Patrick; but this mission becomes doubly one of life and death, and of many perils to you; for loyalty to me is, perhaps, your smallest crime in the eyes of Douglas," said the king.
"Then I have reflected. Douglas shall release my father's sister's son, or I shall cleave him to the beard in his own hall!" exclaimed Gray, with a sudden burst of passion.
"That would not mend the matter much; and I should only be in thee but one faithful subject the less, and faithful subjects are rather scarce at present. Alas! my valiant friend, this strong traitor is likely to hang thee like a faulty hound – even as he hanged the gentle and noble Herries of Terregles."
"I have given my word to ride on this perilous errand, and, with your majesty's permission, go I shall," said Gray, resolutely.
"Good," said the chancellor, striking his long cane on the oak floor; "a soldier's word is his bond for weal or woe."
"In the cause of our king and kindred, I will do all that MacLellan would, were he free. Oh! your highness, write at once; furnish me with due credentials; time in this is precious, and the waste of it perilous!"
"When shall you depart on this mission?"
"So soon as I can get my horse and armour; within an hour, I shall have left these new walls of Edinburgh many a mile behind me."
"'Tis well – good service is ever promptly done."
"I am the subject and soldier of your majesty," replied Gray, bowing with modest confidence.
"And a faithful one!" added the king, giving his hand to his favourite, who was now in his thirty-fifth year, with a fine martial face, a clear bright eye, and a heart that was brave as it was tender and true. "But know you the language of these wild men among whom you are venturing – the fremit Scots of Galloway?"
"I know but little more than our Lowland tongue, with a smattering of Flemish and French, picked up when I had more leisure than desire to learn them – the castle of Bommel; yet I can make a shift to use others, too, that are more universally known."
"How?"
"I can make love to the women and show my purse to the men," said Gray, with a gaiety that was half assumed; "I'll warrant they will both understand me."
"I fear me, Sir Patrick, you may have to show your sword more frequently, on a king's errand though you be; but within an hour a letter shall be prepared."
"And within that time, with the permission of your highness, I shall be armed and mounted," said Gray, bowing low again and retiring in haste.
There was a momentary silence after this, for the mission on which Gray was departing was one of great peril to himself. Indeed, as Lord Glammis observed, "he was the last man in Scotland who should have undertaken it."
3
The metal was molten by the command of Douglas, and poured down his throat; and thus he received both his reward and punishment at the same time. – "History of Galloway," 1841, vol. i.