the
last term of your lives. Come, loves, to bed. Hear ye that foot in the
stair?"

The allusion to a mysterious visitor accomplished what the lightning of
heaven could not effect--such is the secret power of mystery over the
young heart. Rising from her lap, they hurried away to their beds, and
left the not less terrified mother to hear the intelligence of the night
messenger. The door opened, and Ralph stood before her.

"God be thanked, my Leddie Cockburn," said he, in a repressed voice,
and with fearful looks--"God be thanked, for Henderland's absence! The
king, wi' his nobles, are at Peebles, on their way to Liddesdale, to tak
vengeance on the chiefs o' the Borders, wha hae been foremost in the
foray and the rieving raid. They whisper yonder that there's a hangman
in the train, wi' ropes, to hang the ring-leaders on their castle
buttresses; and Henderland is to be their first victim. O my Leddie!
dispatch, quick as thae flashes o' levin, a messenger to the master, and
tell him to flee to England, till the king's wrath has blawn owre. I hae
braved this awful storm, auld as I am, to save my master; and, if I but
saw him safe frae the king's ire, I could lay my banes at the foot o'
the grave o' the Cockburns."

"I have been looking for this Ralph," answered Marjory, as she lifted
her hands to seize her hair, in her distress. "Even now, God be
merciful! my husband is in the very act of rieving and rebellion. But
what said ye of Merlin's Elm, man? Is it not skaithed? Speak, no secrets
now; are the trees beside it blasted, and does it stand?"

"I hae heard yer Leddieship laugh at that auld rhyme," replied the
servitor. "Fear naething for a madman's freak. But it's true that three
oaks by its side are blasted, riven and laid on the earth, and yet it
stands."

"Strange, strange are the ways of heaven," cried she, wringing her
hands. "Ralph, you must be the messenger to my husband. Haste and saddle
my grey jennet, and flee by the Riever's Road, to Tushielaw. Tell
Henderland and Adam Scott, that King James comes, with a halter, to
avenge the rights of royalty and peace. Cry it forth in the midst of
their battle. If he will not flee, take his horse's head, and lead him
to England. Away, away, for mercy and Henderland's sake, good Ralph, and
whisper in his ear--hark ye, man, 'tis no woman's dream--whisper the
fate of Lailoken's tree. The thunder may drown his laugh."

The faithful servant obeyed the command of his form