ould readily, he said, give up their prey for a
dollar a head. The Bailie opined that this transaction would amount to
theft-boot, or composition of felony; and he recommended that some CANNY
HAND should be sent up to the glens to make the best bargain he could,
as it were for himself, so that the laird might not be seen in such a
transaction. Edward proposed to send off to the nearest garrison for a
party of soldiers and a magistrate's warrant; and Rose, as far as she
dared, endeavoured to insinuate the course of paying the arrears of
tribute money to Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, who, they all knew,
could easily procure restoration of the cattle, if he were properly
propitiated.

None of these proposals met the Baron's approbation. The idea of
composition, direct or implied, was absolutely ignominious; that
of Waverley only showed that he did not understand the state of the
country, and of the political parties which divided it; and, standing
matters as they did with Fergus Mac-Ivor Vich Ian Vohr, the Baron would
make no concession to him, were it, he said, to procure restitution IN
INTEGRUM of every stirk and stot that the chief, his forefathers, and
his clan, had stolen since the days of Malcolm Canmore.'

In fact, his voice was still for war, and he proposed to send expresses
to Balmawhapple, Killancureit, Tulliellum, and other lairds, who were
exposed to similar depredations, inviting them to join in the pursuit;
'and then, sir, shall these NEBULONES NEQUISSIMI, as Leslaeus calls
them, be brought to the fate of their predecessor Cacus,

Elisos oculos, et siccum sanguine guttur.'

The Bailie, who by no means relished these warlike counsels, here pulled
forth an immense watch, of the colour, and nearly of the size, of a
pewter warming-pan, and observed it was now past noon, and that the
Caterans had been seen in the pass of Bally-Brough soon after sunrise;
so that before the allied forces could assemble, they and their prey
would be far beyond the reach of the most active pursuit, and sheltered
in those pathless deserts where it was neither advisable to follow, nor
indeed possible to trace them.

This proposition was undeniable. The council therefore broke up
without coming to any conclusion, as has occurred to councils of more
importance; only it was determined that the Bailie should send his own
three milk-cows down to the Mains for the use of the Baron's family,
and brew small ale, as a substitute for