ration of Scotland.

'The usurper, Edward Baliol, was feasting with a few of his favourite
retainers in the castle of Annan, when he was suddenly surprised by a
chosen band of insurgent patriots. Their chiefs were, Douglas, Randolph,
the young Earl of Moray, and Sir Simon Fraser; and their success was so
complete, that Baliol was obliged to fly for his life scarcely
clothed, and on a horse which there was no leisure to saddle. It was of
importance to seize his person, if possible, and his flight was closely
pursued by a valiant knight of Norman descent, whose family had been
long settled in the marches of Dumfriesshire. Their Norman appellation
was Fitz-Aldin, but this knight, from the great slaughter which he had
made of the Southron, and the reluctance which he had shown to admit
them to quarter during the former war of that bloody period, had
acquired the name of Redgauntlet, which he transmitted to his
posterity'--

'Redgauntlet!' I involuntarily repeated.

'Yes, Redgauntlet,' said my alleged guardian, looking at me keenly;
'does that name recall any associations to your mind?'

'No,' I replied, 'except that I had lately heard it given to the hero of
a supernatural legend.'

'There are many such current concerning the family,' he answered; and
then proceeded in his narrative.

'Alberick Redgauntlet, the first of his house so termed, was, as may be
supposed from his name, of a stern and implacable disposition, which
had been rendered more so by family discord. An only son, now a youth
of eighteen, shared so much the haughty spirit of his father, that he
became impatient of domestic control, resisted paternal authority, and
finally fled from his father's house, renounced his political opinions,
and awakened his mortal displeasure by joining the adherents of Baliol.
It was said that his father cursed, in his wrath, his degenerate
offspring, and swore that if they met he should perish by his hand.
Meantime, circumstances seemed to promise atonement for this great
deprivation. The lady of Alberick Redgauntlet was again, after many
years, in a situation which afforded her husband the hope of a more
dutiful heir.

'But the delicacy and deep interest of his wife's condition did not
prevent Alberick from engaging in the undertaking of Douglas and Moray.
He had been the most forward in the attack of the castle, and was now
foremost in the pursuit of Baliol, eagerly engaged in dispersing or
cutting down the few daring