e, be wise--be warned--desist!--or auld men
will tear their grey hairs, and wives mourn; and those only that live by
the gibbet, rejoice wi' the bloodhound and bird of prey!'

"Her words made us both uncomfortable; but we had often been engaged in
such exploits before the expedition was determined on; and we couldna,
in the presence of the four men that we had engaged to accompany us,
abandon it. They were fearless and experienced hands at the trade; but
the new laws on the Borders had reduced them to great privations, and
their teeth were watering for the flesh-pots of bygone days, no matter
at what risk they were to be obtained.

"It was a delightful moonlight night--almost as bright as day; the
moon's brightness put out the stars, and not aboon a dozen were visible,
though there wasna half that number of clouds in the whole heavens, and
they were just like white sheets, that spirits might be sleeping on in
the air! We proceeded by way of Twisel to Norham, where we crossed the
Tweed to Ladykirk; and as at midnight we passed by the auld kirkyard, I
believe I actually put my hands to my ears, lest I should hear the
howlets flapping their wings and screaming in the belfry, and turned my
face away from it in a sort of apprehension of seeing a spirit, or
something waur, upon every grave; for your mother's prophecies were
uppermost in my mind, in spite of all that I could say or strive to
think. And I believe that your uncle's mind was troubled wi' the same
sort of fears or fancies; for we were both silent the greater part of
the road, and spoke very little to each other.

"However, just about one o'clock, and when the moon was beginning to
edge down upon the Lammermuirs, we arrived at an enclosure, in which
Cunningham had sixty head of cattle penned. The six of us had but little
difficulty in breaking down the gate that opened to the enclosure; and
just as we were beginning to drive out the cattle, a man started up on a
sort of tower place that was built upon the wall that surrounded them,
and hurled a kind of instrument round his head, that made a noise like a
thousand corn-craiks crying together in concert, and trying which would
craik loudest and fastest. At the unearthly sound, the cattle also
commenced a louting that might easily have been heard at two or three
miles off.

"It at once struck me, as the best and wisest step for us to take, that
we should put spurs into our horses, and gallop back to Tweedside; for I