could carry away; but the country people, unused to scenes of blood,
had not yet approached the field of action, though some stood fearfully
gazing at a distance. About sixty or seventy dragoons lay slain within
the first enclosure, upon the high road, and on the open moor. Of the
Highlanders, not above a dozen had fallen, chiefly those who, venturing
too far on the moor, could not regain the strong ground. He could not
find the body of Fergus among the slain. On a little knell, separated
from the others, lay the carcasses of three English dragoons, two
horses, and the page Callum Beg, whose hard skull a trooper's broadsword
had, at length, effectually cloven. It was possible his clan had
carried off the body of Fergus; but it was also possible he had escaped,
especially as Evan Dhu, who would never leave his Chief, was not
found among the dead; or he might be prisoner, and the less formidable
denunciation inferred from the appearance of the Bodach Glas might have
proved the true one. The approach of a party, sent for the purpose of
compelling the country people to bury the dead, and who had already
assembled several peasants for that purpose, now obliged Edward to
rejoin his guide, who awaited him in great anxiety and fear under shade
of the plantations.

After leaving this field of death, the rest of their journey was happily
accomplished. At the house of Farmer Williams, Edward passed for a young
kinsman, educated for the church, who was come to reside there till the
civil tumults permitted him to pass through the country. This silenced
suspicion among the kind and simple yeomanry of Cumberland, and
accounted sufficiently for the grave manners and retired habits of
the new guest, The precaution became more necessary than Waverley had
anticipated, as a variety of incidents prolonged his stay at Fasthwaite,
as the farm was called.

A tremendous fall of snow rendered his departure impossible for more
than ten days. When the roads began to become a little practicable,
they successively received news of the retreat of the Chevalier into
Scotland; then, that he had abandoned the frontiers, retiring upon
Glasgow; and that the Duke of Cumberland had formed the siege of
Carlisle. His army, therefore, cut off all possibility of Waverley's
escaping into Scotland in that direction. On the eastern border, Marshal
Wade, with a large force, was advancing upon Edinburgh; and all along
the frontier, parties of militia, volunteers,