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« Come, Edward, come along; the Prince has gone to Pinkie-house for the night; and we must follow, or lose the whole ceremony of the caliga. Your friend, the Baron, has been guilty of a great piece of cruelty; he has insisted upon dragging Baillie Macwheeble out to the field of battle. Now, you must know, the baillie's greatest horror is an armed Highlander, or a loaded gun: and there he stands listening to the Baron's instructions concerning the protest; and ducking his head, like a seagull, at the report of every gun and pistol that our idle boys are firing upon the fields; and undergoes, by way of penance, at every symptom of flinching, a severe rebuke from his patron, who would not admit the discharge of a whole battery of cannon within point-blank distance, as an apology for neglecting a discourse, in which the honour of his family is interested."

<< But how has Mr Bradwardine got him to venture so far?»

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Why, he had come as far as Musselburgh, I fancy, in hopes of making some of our wills; and the peremptory commands of the Baron dragged him forward to Preston after the battle was over. He complains of one or two of our ragamuffins having put him in peril of his life, by presenting their pieces at him; but as they limited his ransom to an English penny, I

don't think we need trouble the provostmartial upon that subject.-So, come along, Waverley.>>

"

Waverley!» said the English officer, with great emotion, « the nephew of Sir Everard Waverley, of—-— shire?»

«The same, Sir,» replied our hero, somewhat surprised at the tone in which he addressed him.

<< I am at once happy and grieved," said the prisoner, « to have met with

you."

<< I am ignorant, Sir,» answered Waverley, << how I have deserved so much interest.»

" Did your uncle never mention a friend called Talbot."

« I have heard him talk with great regard of such a gentleman-a colonel, I believe, in the army, and the husband of Lady Emily Blandeville; but I thought Colonel Talbot had been abroad."

<< I am just returned; and being in Scotland, thought it my duty to act where my services promised to be useful. Yes, Mr Waverley, I am that Colonel Talbot, the husband of the lady you have named; and I am proud to acknowledge, that I owe alike my professional rank and my domestic happiness to your generous and noble-minded relative. Good God! that I should find his nephew in such a dress, and engaged in such a cause!»

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« Sir," said Fergus, haughtily, the dress

and cause are those of men of birth and họ

nour.»

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My situation forbids me to dispute your assertion; otherwise it were no difficult matter to show, that neither courage nor pride of lineage can gild a bad cause. But, with Mr Waverley's permission, and yours, Sir, if yours also must be asked, I would willingly speak a few words with him on affairs connected with his family.»

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« Mr Waverley, Sir, regulates his own motions. You will follow me, I suppose, to Pinkie," said Fergus, turning to Edward, << when you have finished your discourse with this new acquaintance?» So saying, the chief of Glennaquoich adjusted his plaid with rather more than his usual air of haughty assumption, and left the apartment..

The interest of Waverley readily procured for Colonel Talbot the freedom of adjourning to a large garden, belonging to his place of confinement. They walked a few paces in silence, Colonel Talbot apparently studying how to open what he had to say; at length he addressed Edward.

« Mr Waverley, you have this day saved my life and yet I would to God that I had lost it, ere I had found you wearing the uniform and cockade of these men.»>

"

« I forgive your reproach, Colonel Talbot; it is well meant, and your education and pre

judices render it natural. But there is nothing extraordinary in finding a man, whose honour has been publicly and unjustly assailed, in the situation which promised most fair to afford him satisfaction on his calumniators.»

"

<< I should rather say, in the situation most likely to confirm the reports which they have circulated,» said Colonel Talbot, « by following the very line of conduct ascribed to you. Are your aware, Mr Waverley, of the infinite distress, and even danger, which your present conduct has occasioned to your nearest relatives?"

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Danger!»

Yes, Sir, danger. When I left England, your uncle and father had been obliged to find bail to answer a charge of treason, to which they were only admitted by exertion of the most pressing interest. I came down to Scotland, with the sole purpose of rescuing you from the gulf into which you have precipitated yourself; nor can I estimate the consequences to your family, of your having openly joined the rebellion, since the very suspicion of your intentions was so perilous to them. Most deeply do I regret that I did not meet you before this last and fatal

error.»

"I am really ignorant why Colonel Talbot should have taken so much trouble on my

account."

« Mr Waverley, I am dull at apprehending irony; and therefore I shall answer your words according to their plain meaning. I am indebted to your uncle for benefits greater than those which a son owes to a father. I acknowledge to him the duty of a son; and as I know there is no manner in which I can requite his kindness so well as by serving you, I will serve you, if possible, whether you will permit me or no. The personal obligation which you have this day laid me under (although, in common estimation, as great as one human being can bestow on another), adds nothing to my zeal on your behalf; nor can it be abated by any coolness with which you may please to receive it. »

« Your intentions may be kind, Sir, but your language is harsh, or at least peremptory.»>

« On my return to England, after long absence, I found your uncle, Mr Waverley, in the custody of a king's messenger, in consequence of the suspicion brought upon him by your conduct. He is my oldest friend-how often shall I repeat it-my best benefactor! he sacrificed his own views of happiness to mine -he never uttered a word, he never harboured a thought, that benevolence might itself not have thought or spoken. I found this man in confinement, rendered harsher to him by his habits of life, his natural dignity of feeling, and-forgive me, Mr Waverley,

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