mine. I trust you will not suffer moments, which are perhaps my

last, to be embittered by his barbarous triumph."
"He shall have the treatment he merits," said Menteith; "let him

be instantly" target="_blank" title="ad.立即，立刻">instantly removed."
Sir Dugald here interposed, and spoke of Ranald's services as a

guide, and his own pledge for his safety; but the high harsh
tones of the outlaw drowned his voice.

"No," said he, "be rack and gibbet the word! let me wither
between heaven and earth, and gorge the hawks and eagles of Ben-

Nevis; and so shall this haughty Knight, and this triumphant
Thane, never learn the secret I alone can impart; a secret which

would make Ardenvohr's heart leap with joy, were he in the death
agony, and which the Earl of Menteith would purchase at the price

of his broad earldom.--Come hither, Annot Lyle," he said, raising
himself with unexpected strength; "fear not the sight of him to

whom thou hast clung in infancy. Tell these proud men, who
disdain thee as the issue of mine ancient race, that thou art no

blood of ours,--no daughter of the race of the Mist, but born in
halls as lordly, and cradled on couch as soft, as ever soothed

infancy in their proudest palaces."
"In the name of God," said Menteith, trembling with emotion, "if

you know aught of the birth of this lady, do thy conscience the
justice to disburden it of the secret before departing from this

world!"
"And bless my enemies with my dying breath?" said MacEagh,

looking at him malignantly.--"Such are the maxims your priests
preach--but when, or towards whom, do you practise them? Let me

know first the worth of my secret ere I part with it--What would
you give, Knight of Ardenvohr, to know that your superstitious

fasts have been vain, and that there still remains a descendant
of your house?--I pause for an answer--without it, I speak not

one word more.
"I could," said Sir Duncan, his voice struggling between the

emotions of doubt, hatred, and anxiety--"I could--but that I know
thy race are like the Great Enemy, liars and murderers from the

beginning--but could it be true thou tellest me, I could almost
forgive thee the injuries thou hast done me."

"Hear it!" said Ranald; "he hath wagered deeply for a son of
Diarmid--And you, gentle Thane--the report of the camp says, that

you would purchase with life and lands the tidings that Annot
Lyle was no daughter of proscription, but of a race noble in your

estimation as your own--Well--It is for no love I tell you--The
time has been that I would have exchanged this secret against

liberty; I am now bartering it for what is dearer than liberty or
life.--Annot Lyle is the youngest, the sole surviving child of

the Knight of Ardenvohr, who alone was saved when all in his
halls besides was given to blood and ashes."

"Can this man speak truth?" said Annot Lyle, scarceknowing what
she said; "or is this some strange delusion?"

"Maiden," replied Ranald, "hadst thou dwelt longer with us, thou
wouldst have better learnt to know how to distinguish the accents

of truth. To that Saxon lord, and to the Knight of Ardenvohr, I
will yield such proofs of what I have spoken, that incredulity

shall stand convinced. Meantime, withdraw--I loved thine
infancy, I hate not thy youth--no eye hates the rose in its

blossom, though it groweth upon a thorn, and for thee only do I
something regret what is soon to follow. But he that would

avenge him of his foe must not reck though the guiltless be
engaged in the ruin."

"He advises well, Annot," said Lord Menteith; "in God's name
retire! if--if there be aught in this, your meeting with Sir

Duncan must he more prepared for both your sakes."
"I will not part from my father, if I have found one!" said

Annot--"I will not part from him under circumstances so
terrible."

"And a father you shall ever find in me," murmured Sir Duncan.
"Then," said Menteith, "I will have MacEagh removed into an

adjacent apartment, and will collect the evidence of his tale
myself. Sir Dugald Dalgetty will give me his attendance and

assistance."
"With pleasure, my lord," answered Sir Dugald.--"I will be your

confessor, or assessor--either or both. No one can be so fit,
for I had heard the whole story a month ago at Inverary castle

--but onslaughts like that of Ardenvohr confuse each other in my
memory, which is besides occupied with matters of more

importance."
Upon hearing this frank declaration, which was made as they left

the apartment with the wounded man, Lord Menteith darted upon
Dalgetty a look of extreme anger and disdain, to which the self-

conceit of the worthycommander rendered him totally insensible.
CHAPTER XXII.

I am as free as nature first made man,
Ere the base laws of servitude began,

When wild in woods the noble savage ran. CONQUEST OF GRANADA
The Earl of Menteith, as he had undertaken, so he proceeded to

investigate more closely the story told by Ranald of the Mist,
which was corroborated by the examination of his two followers,

who had assisted in the capacity of guides. These declarations
he carefully compared with such circumstances concerning the

destruction of his castle and family as Sir Duncan Campbell was
able to supply; and it may be supposed he had forgotten nothing

relating to an event of such terrific importance. It was of the
last consequence to prove that this was no invention of the

outlaw's, for the purpose of passing an impostor as the child and
heiress of Ardenvohr.

Perhaps Menteith, so much interested in believing the tale, was
not altogether the fittest person to be intrusted with the

investigation of its truth; but the examinations of the Children
of the Mist were simple, accurate, and in all respects consistent

with each other. A personal mark was referred to, which was
known to have been borne by the infant child of Sir Duncan, and

which appeared upon the left shoulder of Annot Lyle. It was also
well remembered, that when the miserable relics of the other

children had been collected, those of the infant had nowhere been
found. Other circumstances of evidence, which it is unnecessary

to quote, brought the fullest conviction not only to Menteith,
but to the unprejudiced mind of Montrose, that in Annot Lyle, an

humble dependant, distinguished only by beauty and talent, they
were in future to respect the heiress of Ardenvohr.

While Menteith hastened to communicate the result of these
enquiries to the persons most interested, the outlaw demanded to

speak with his grandchild, whom he usually called his son. "He
would be found," he said, "in the outer apartment, in which he

himself had been originally deposited."
Accordingly, the young savage, after a close search, was found

lurking in a corner, coiled up among some rotten straw, and
brought to his grandsire.

"Kenneth," said the old outlaw, "hear the last words of the sire
of thy father. A Saxon soldier, and Allan of the Red-hand, left

this camp within these few hours, to travel to the country to
Caberfae. Pursue them as the bloodhound pursues the hurt deer

--swim the lake-climb the mountain--thread the forest--tarry not
until you join them;" and then the countenance of the lad

darkened as his grandfather spoke, and he laid his hand upon a
knife which stuck in the thong of leather that confined his

scanty plaid. "No!" said the old man; "it is not by thy hand he
must fall. They will ask the news from the camp--say to them

that Annot Lyle of the Harp is discovered to be the daughter of
Duncan of Ardenvohr; that the Thane of Menteith is to wed her

before the priest; and that you are sent to bid guests to the
bridal. Tarry not their answer, but vanish like the lightning