" said he, "we have met with a misfortune. It's the will of
Providence, and we maun bear it. But surely in the anger that is caused
by provocation, our Creator tells us to resent. From this hour, all
obligation, obedience, allegiance, all whatsoever that as a subject I
did owe to Charles Stuart is at an end. I am his foe; and the Lord put
strength into my arm to revenge the ruin of my bairn!"

There was in the utterance of these words a solemnity at first
terrifying to hear; but his voice in the last clause of the sentence
faltered, and he took off his bonnet and held it over his face, and wept
bitterly.

I could make him no answer for some time; but I took hold of his hand,
and when he had a little mastered his grief, I said, "Brother, we are
children of the same parents, and the wrongs of one are the wrongs of
both. But let us not be hasty."

He took the bonnet from his face, and looked at me sternly for a little
while, and then he said,--

"Ringan Gilhaize, till you have felt what I feel, you ne'er can know
that the speed o' lightning is slow to the wishes and the will of
revenge."

At that moment his daughter Bell was brought in, led by my son Michael.
Her father, at the sight of her, clasped his hands wildly above his
head, and rushed out of the house. My wife went towards her, but stopped
and fell back into my arms at the sight of her demented look. My
daughters gazed, and held up their trembling hands.

"Speak to her," said Michael to his sisters; "she'll maybe heed you;"
and he added, "Bell, it's Mary and Peggy," and dropping her hand, he
went to lead Mary to her, while she stood like a statue on the spot.

"Dear Bell," said I, as I moved myself gently from the arms of my
afflicted wife, "come wi' me to the open air;" and I took her by the
hand which poor Michael had dropped, and led her out to the green, but
still she looked the same demented creature.

Her father, who had by this time again overcome his distress, seeing us
on the green, came towards us, while my wife and daughters also came
out; but Michael could no longer endure the sight of the rifled rose
that he had cherished for the ornament of his bosom, and he remained to
hide his grief in the house.

"Her mind's gone, Ringan," said my brother, "and she'll ne'er be better
in this world!" Nor was she; but she lived many months after, and in all
the time never shed a tear, nor breathed a sigh, nor spoke a word; where
she was led she went; where