to my
prayers, an' try if ye can persuade my maister to marry Sir Gideon's
dochter, an' thereby save baith his life an' mine."

But she fell upon the neck of her son, and seemed not to hear the words
which Simon addressed to her.

"O my son! my son!" she cried; "since there is no other way by which yer
life can be ransomed, yield to the demand o' the fierce Murray. Marry
his daughter an' live--save yer wretched mother's life; for yer death,
Willie, wad be mine also."

"Mother!" answered he, vehemently, "I will never accept life upon such
terms. I am in Murray's hands, but the day may come--yea, see ye that it
does come--when he shall fall into the hands o' the Scotts o' Harden;
an' see ye that ye do to him as he shall have done to me. But, tell
me, mother, hoo are ye here? Wherefore did ye venture, or hoo got ye
permission to see me? Ken ye not that if he found ye in his power, upon
your life also he wad fix a ransom?"

"The kind lassie," she replied, "that brought the letter from ye, at my
request conducted me here, and contrived to get me permission to see
ye; an' she says that my visit shall not come to the knowledge o' Sir
Gideon. But, O Willie! as ye love an' respect the mother that bore ye,
an' that nursed ye nicht an' day at her bosom, dinna throw awa yer life
when it is in yer power to save it, but marry Miss Murray, an' ye may
live, an' so may I, to see many happy days; for, from a' that I hae
heard, though not weel-favoured, she is a young lady o' an excellent
disposition!"

"Oh! that's richt, my leddy," interrupted Simon; "urge him to marry her,
for it would be a dreadfu' thing for him an' I to be gibbeted, as a pair
o' perpetual spectacles for the Murrays to mak a jest o'. Ye ken if he
does marry, an' if he finds he doesna like her, he can leave her; or
he needna live wi' her; or, perhaps, she may soon die; an' ye will
certainly agree that marriage, ony way ye tak it, is to be desired, a
thousand times ower, before a violent death. Therefore, urge him again,
yer leddyship, for he may listen to what ye say, though he despises my
words, an' will not hearken to my advice."

"Simon," said the laird, "never shall a Murray hae it in his power to
boast that he struck terror into the breast o' a Scott o' Harden. My
determination is fixed as fate. I shall welcome my doom, an' meet it as
a man. Come, dear mother," he added, "weep not, nor cause me to appear
in the presence o' my enemies with a blanched cheek.