s armour off, and the neck
of his doublet rolled down on his shoulders, could not trust his eye in
the direction of his wife and children, but stood with a look fixed on
the grey walls of his tower. The voice of the king was now heard,
crying, "Is everything prepared?" and, "Yes, my liege," rolled forth
from the mouth of the rough-toned executioner. The unfortunate Marjory,
in this extremity, turned from the window, and rushed into a
neighbouring room, from which a few steps of descent led to a window not
so far removed from a broken part of the wall as to prevent her getting
to the ground. In this, by a mighty effort, she succeeded, hearing, as
she hastened away, the shrill cries of her children following her, and
imploring her to return. Her brain was fired beyond the capability of
sane thought. The soldiers, who saw her fall on the ground, lifted her
up, and then pushed her rudely away from the ground they were ordered to
guard, confronting her otherwise impossible efforts to get forward by
their swords, and threatening to do her bodily injury if she dared to
resist their authority.

At this moment she heard a voice commanding some one to seize and
confine the wife of the culprit; and, getting more confused by the
occurrence of new and more harrowing incidents--the cries of her
children sounding from the window--the noise of those forwarding the
execution, if not at that very time, binding her husband to the gallows,
filling all the air with a confused buzz--and the coming of the men to
seize and secure her--she sprang forward out of a postern, and, with the
rapid step of flying despair, endeavoured to get beyond the dreadful
sounds which haunted her ear. In her flight--the consequence of the spur
of frenzy, as much as of a wish to lessen pain which was
insufferable--she came to the Henderland Linn, a mountain stream, that
falls rolling down the heights with a loud noise. It was much swelled,
and the waters were gushing and roaring over a ledge of rock that
crosses its course, and forms in that quarter a cascade--beautiful in
certain states of the river, but frightful when the spirit of the storms
has sent down the red stream to dash over the height. The noise was
welcome to her; and, exhausted, she threw herself down on a seat by the
side of the linn;[4] yet, so quick is the ear to catch, through other
sounds, that of the cause of a pregnant grief, that she heard the
increased noise of the crowd at the Castle, conse